Autonomous Maritime Patrol Craft (AMPA)
Abstract
Previously funded JCTD. AMPA supports the National Defense Strategy by developing an unmanned militarized version of the world’s largest solar aircraft, the Solar Impulse. The resulting Skydweller aircraft will be designed to stay airborne for more than 90 days with excess electrical power available to simultaneously operate a suite of sensors, communications, Navigation, and Electronic Warfare (EW) sub-systems. This technological leap will allow a single Skydweller aircraft to more effectively perform the mission of numerous manned & unmanned ISR/configurable assets, eliminate risk to human pilots, and provide a level of persistence not available anywhere else in the military inventory. In FY 2021, AMPA completed an aircraft integrity flight test and conducted engineering activities to integrate advanced fly-by-wire technology, autonomous flight control system, and vehicle management systems into the Skydweller aircraft.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Source ID
- b75f053afd7c8a6493d8df0155884529