The U.S. Air Force is planning new unmanned aircraft that can carry 500 pounds over a distance of 230 miles

Silent Arrow announced that it has been selected by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for a $1.8 million Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop a logistics drone.

This contract focuses on the development and flight testing of the Silent Arrow CLS-200, a special mission Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) designed for contested logistics operations over a range of 200 nautical miles (230 miles).

The CLS-200 relies on the fundamental engineering of the commercially successful Silent Arrow GD-2000, the world’s first autonomous and extendable heavy-payload cargo aircraft to enter full-speed production.

The GD-2000 has been deployed to the United States and multiple overseas countries from a variety of aircraft, including the C-130H, MC-130J, C-27J and Airbus A400M.

Mass production is based in the UK and led by Silent Arrow manufacturing partner The MEL Group under AS9100, with Airbus DS Airborne Solutions GmbH also working with Silent Arrow to distribute and distribute the GD-2000 UAS heavy cargo delivery platform in European market segments to support.

500 kg over 230 miles

While the GD-2000 is a non-powered glider, the new CLS-200 can travel six times as far using an innovative propulsion unit and propeller system that are cheap enough to make the entire cargo drone a single-use vehicle.

Not only can it be air-dropped, but it can also take off from the ground, including from undeveloped surfaces, naval vessels and other launch points.

“We would like to thank the U.S. Air Force, AFRL and our Air Force customers and end-user organizations for expanding Silent Arrow’s fighter aircraft offering by awarding this competitive Direct to Phase II,” said Chip Yates, Founder and CEO of Silent Arrow.

“The test flights at our Pendleton, Oregon facility will be exciting as we will longline drop five units from our UH-1H helicopter and then deliver a 6th unit to the Air Force for their practical evaluation.”

The UAS can carry 500 pounds to more than 200 nautical miles (230 miles).

US Air Force drones

In addition to the CLS-200, AFWERX selected Silent Arrow in September for a $1.25 million SBIR Phase II contract focused on the Silent Arrow CLS-300 (“Contested Logistics System, 300nm Range”) powered cargo drone to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. the Ministry of Air Force (DAF).

The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX collaborated to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal grant timelines, increasing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities for small businesses and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution.

The DAF started offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018, expanding the range of innovations DAF funded.

Silent Arrow will begin its journey to create and deliver innovative capabilities to strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

The Silent Arrow product line consists of five portable, autonomous cargo aircraft that can transport 350 to 2,000 pounds of emergency, disaster relief and humanitarian relief supplies anywhere in the world at short notice.

The Silent Arrow GD-2000, Widebody, SA-PGB, CLS-200 and CLS-300 offer the warfighter several contested logistics capabilities.