Target Arm has announced that the United States Air Force, through MD-5, recently awarded funding for research and feasibility analysis for adding Precision Navigation to Talon, while on the move, beginning February 4, 2019.
Talon is a Universal Launch and Recovery (ULaR) platform for Unmanned Systems (UxS), in all environments and all operations, both military and commercial. This research will focus specifically on precision navigation with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)/drones, while the host vehicle is on the move.
With the identification and addition of viable precision navigation solutions, Target Arm intends to revolutionize military operations while maneuvering, as well as commercial package delivery to/from moving vehicles throughout the supply chain. The impact on the military will be profound, giving each echelon of forces control over their own UAVs – without stopping. And, the result will be quicker, faster, more efficient delivery for businesses and consumers, since Talon is agnostic to proprietary UAVs and their various shapes and sizes, to include both rotary wing and fixed wing drones.
Jeff McChesney/CEO further added,
“Talon is a simple, but elegant solution. As we add autonomous precision navigation from this research, we’ll help the military and supply chain operators, with various UAV investments, reach their full potential; by enabling delivery from any vehicle, anywhere, at anytime, including while moving. As the world becomes more and more mobile, we believe supply chain operators, in particular, will soon have no choice but to expand delivery to mobile vehicles, or perish.”
Ryan Bigham, Lead Engineer for Target Arm stated,
“This is an amazing opportunity for Target Arm to move the industry forward with autonomous drone launch and recovery operations, to and from a moving vehicle, simply and efficiently. We proved the basic concept with Talon v1 manual flight operations last year, and just completed successful 60mph aerodynamic testing of v2 (https://youtu.be/R1fYMBoru9A). Coupled with this award, we are now designing v2.5 to include precision navigation and autonomous capability to/from a moving vehicle!”
Target Arm LLC is a Service Disabled, Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), founded in 2017 to provide for development and commercialization of the patented Talon, specifically, as well as for strategic and business consulting, in general.
Source: Press Release