DARPA-Navy Agreement to Develop Tern Concept
DARPA and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on a joint DARPA/Navy research and development program called "Tern." This joint effort builds upon the existing work of DARPA's Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node program, or "TERN," which has been exploring concepts for a long-endurance and long-range aircraft that would operate from a variety of Navy ships.
Modern warfare requires the ability to conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike mobile targets anywhere and at any time. Current technologies in these areas, however, have their limitations. Helicopters are relatively limited in their distance and flight time, and long-distance fixed-wing manned and unmanned aircraft require either aircraft carriers or large, fixed land bases for takeoff and landing.To help overcome these challenges, the Tern program envisions using smaller ships as mobile launch and recovery sites for medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The goal is to provide long-range ISR and other capabilities from the decks of forward-deployed small ships. The program aims to advance technology to enable a full-scale, at-sea demonstration of an R and D prototype UAS from a vessel with the same deck size as an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
