{"id":283737,"date":"2017-01-11T07:54:38","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T07:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=283737"},"modified":"2017-01-11T07:54:38","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T07:54:38","slug":"us-jets-launch-swarm-of-mini-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/01\/us-jets-launch-swarm-of-mini-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"US jets launch swarm of mini-drones"},"content":{"rendered":"
The US military has launched 103 miniature swarming drones from a fighter jet during a test in California.<\/p>\n
Three F\/A-18 Super Hornets were used to release the Perdix drones last October.<\/p>\n
The drones, which have a wingspan of 12in (30cm), operate autonomously and share a distributed brain.
\nA military analyst said the devices, able to dodge air defence systems, were likely to be used for surveillance.<\/p>\n
Video footage of the test was published online by the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n
“Perdix are not pre-programmed synchronised individuals, they are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature,” said William Roper, director of the Strategic Capabilities Office.<\/p>\n
“Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team.”<\/p>\n
The drones were originally designed by engineering students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and were first modified for military testing in 2013.<\/p>\n
“When looking at how you deal with air defence systems that are optimised to spot very large, fast-moving aircraft, small, cheap disposable drones seem to be one solution,” said Elizabeth Quintana, at the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank.<\/p>\n
She added that the system would probably be used for surveillance purposes in the near term.<\/p>\n
In May, the US Navy tested a system that could launch drones into the sky for rapid deployment.<\/p>\n
Asian competition<\/strong> Ms Quintana pointed out that China had significant resources both in electronics and drone-manufacturing.<\/p>\n The world’s best-selling consumer drones are made by DJI, a Chinese company.<\/p>\n “They have a tremendous amount of expertise in the country,” she told the BBC.<\/p>\n “It’s going to be very interesting – it won’t just be about who has the biggest swarm but also about who can out-manoeuvre who.”<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The US military has launched 103 miniature swarming drones from a fighter jet during a test in California. Three F\/A-18 Super Hornets were used to release the Perdix drones last October. The drones, which have a wingspan of 12in (30cm), operate autonomously and share a distributed brain. A military analyst said the devices, able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":283738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[1123,2830,2831,2832],"yoast_head":"\n
\nAnd late last year, the Chinese also demonstrated a swarm of larger, fixed-wing drones.<\/p>\n