Drones first glided into the public imagination in the early 2000s when the US Air Force and the CIA started using school bus-sized Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance and airstrikes in the Middle East. These days, the US Army wants something a bit smaller: Pocket-sized drones that soldiers can use in battle zones to see around corners, over hills, or behind trees to aoid ambushes and other surprises.
Ideally, soldiers will be able to launch such a nano-drone quickly, the Army says. "It will send real-time video back to the operator to give them real-time situational awareness of what's in the immediate vicinity," says says Phil Cheatham, the deputy branch chief for electronics at the Army's Maneuvers Center for Excellence (MCOE).
The Army already uses satellite imagery and larger drones to provide broader battlefield intelligence, Cheatham says. But in many cases these technologies aren't available to soldiers at the squad level. What he and his team want is something that's cheap enough to deploy with every squad (a squad is nine soldiers).
That's why, instead of trying to develop new equipment, the Army is seeking off-the-shelf gear that already meets its requirements. Cheatham's team writes the requirements for battlefield tech like night vision goggles, robotics, and aiming lasers, among other things. Last month the Army requested proposals in the hope that drone makers like Parrot or DJI---or companies no one has heard of yet---will provide contraptions that meet the military's needs. Next week, the Army will hold an industry day to learn more about what's available and to explain its requirements.
Soldiers already are heavily burdened by gear, so Cheatham says personal drones must be very light---no more than 150 grams, about the weight of an iPhone 6s---that could be carried in a cargo pocket. His team hopes the drones will fly for at least 15 minutes with a range of about 500 to 1,200 meters and have a camera capable of accurately detecting human-sized objects from a height of about 50 to 70 feet. The drone will need to be chargeable in less than two hours and deployable in about 60 seconds from pocket to launch. "We want to be as silent as possible so we don't give away that there's something out there that might alert the enemy," Cheatham says.
The British and Norweigian militaries have long used the Black Hornet Nano, which already meets many of these requirements. But Cheatham says that Black Hornet is expensive and generally hand-made to order. The Army wants something more affordable and scalable, since the plan is to provide a drone to each squad. "I've seen things online, for example, for children that are even smaller than the Black Hornet that can do the same kinds of things," he says. But he says his team still looked to the UK and other militaries while drafting their requirements.
It's not clear whether the US would be able or willing to buy drones made by Chinese companies like DJI and Yuneec. Last year China issued restrictions on selling high-end drones outside of the country. But the drones the Army is seeking wouldn't appear to fall under the parameters, which only apply to drones that can fly more than an hour at altitudes of 6,000 meters. The Army hopes to make limited purchases over the next two years, with larger buys starting in 2018. The future of soldiering, it seems, won't just be boots on the ground.
