US Army Succesfully Launched Drones From Flying Helicopters For Spying Missions

Dhir Acharya - May 26, 2020

The US Army successfully launched a drone from a helicopter flying in mid-air, part of a system for sending drones to search and destroy enemy targets.

The US Army successfully launched a drone from a Black Hawk helicopter flying in mid-air, which sends the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), part of a recent set of air-launched attempts system for sending drones to search and destroy enemy targets. The drone launched in mid-air will roam the sky and transmit live video feed that can be viewed remotely.

The drone was launched from a flying helicopter

The successful launch

On March 4, dozens of people gathered at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, US, to witness the launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle from a helicopter, according to the US Army.

The Army mounted external pylons to the Black Hawk, which are used to hold rockets, missiles, or fuel tanks, and to support a long, slender canister in this case. When the helicopter launched an ALTIUS 600 (Air-Launched, Unmanned, Tube-Integrated System) drone. The drone ejected from its container, its two wings popped out, and it flew under the command’s guidance and sent back live footage to the crew.

This is tricky because the timing of the launch and wings popping out must be right

As soon as the drone is launched from the helicopter, it’s covered in the rapid airflow from the rotors of the helicopter as well as differential winds from the movement of the aircraft in relativity with the surrounding air. But when the drone is clear, it flies normally.

Launching a drone from a flying helicopter is tricky because they have to determine the right time to deploy the wings and to start the propulsion system on the air launch effect vehicle.

ALTIUS drone launch

ALTIUS is a compact drone that has wings jutting out like a switchable post-ejection. It can be controlled manually for conducting a series of waypoints as well as land on flat surfaces.

The US Army doesn’t share any information on these drones, which it believes can be used for scouting wider areas with each helicopter launching multiple drones. These drones can also carry out silent flights over areas that are too dangerous for crewed helicopters.