The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will
solicit proposals for putting large unmanned air systems on
small ships. DARPA has announced its intention to hold a
competition for medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAS - a
size well-represented by the General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems MQ-1 Predator - capable of operating from the US Navy's
new littoral combat ships (LCS). The vessels feature a small
landing deck designed for helicopters, but have not been
considered suitable for fixed-wing aircraft. The DARPA
announcement of an industry briefing specifies an aircraft,
called the tactically exploited reconnaissance node (TERN),
which would be capable of carrying a 272kg (600lb) payload up to
900nm (1,660km) away from the ship. The programme is meant to
produce a flying prototype. "It is expected that a TERN
objective system may explore or leverage new technologies
related to precision relative navigation energy addition and
mitigation for launch and recovery, and minimal manpower
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