US-based Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a program to develop a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for extended maritime surveillance. The UAV will be launched from and recovered on relatively small ships. Participants in the project, designated as Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program, include UAV experts from Carter Aviation Technologies LLC in Wichita Falls, Texas, Northrop Grumman Corporation in Arlington and Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation in Manassas.
DARPA’s TERN programme aims to overcome limitations in terms of range and endurance of aircraft both fixed and rotary wing platforms meant for surveillance tasks located on board ships. In the first phase of the TERN program, experts from the five companies will study designs for an operational TERN UAV, and plan for a prototype flight demonstration in 2017. The ultimate goal for a TERN UAV and launch system to enable persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions as well as possess strike capabilities with payloads of 600 pounds while operating at ranges as large as 900 nautical miles from the parent ship. The TERN program seeks to combine the strengths of aircraft bases on land and sea by using small ships as mobile launch and recovery sites for MALE fixed-wing UAVs.
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