Air-Launched Glider Delivery Vehicle for Standoff

Abstract

NAWCAD is developing the X-Glider, an expendable aircraft-launched glider vehicle for the air deployment of sensors into denied or contested littoral areas while providing a safe standoff capability to the manned launch aircraft. The X-Glider is the size of a MK-46 torpedo and large enough to accommodate a range of payloads. It can be launched from the wing stations or bomb bay of tactical aircraft. Once launched, the X-Glider's autopilot autonomously guides the unpowered, 14-to-i glide-ratio vehicle to a predetermined location using GPS to achieve an aircraft standoff distance of 50 nmi, or more, from the hostile environment. The X-Glider is being developed under contract for NAWOAD by AeroVironment, Inc., of Simi Valley, California, and is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 11, 1999
Accession Number
ADA368482

Entities

People

  • Roger A. Holler

Organizations

  • Naval Air Warfare Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Launched
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Automatic Pilots
  • Autonomous Guidance
  • Bomb Bays
  • Bombs
  • California
  • Control Systems
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Military Research
  • Navigation
  • Remotely Piloted Vehicles
  • Tactical Aircraft
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Aerial Unmanned Vehicle Swarm Micro Periodontal Dentistry.
  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Space
  • Space - Satellites