Gliding Delivery Drones Could Replace Military Airdrops

The drone is expected to cost half as much as a conventional airdrop.

Priority Shipping

Instead of using the intense, freefalling airdrops you've seen in action movies, soldiers fighting on the battlefields of the future may get resupplies from gigantic, gliding delivery drones.

Yates Electrospace Corporation showed off its new glider drone, dubbed the Silent Arrow GD-2000, at a military equipment expo in London attended by Engadget. The gliders are a far cry from the delivery drones shipping blood and burgers back in the U.S., but Yates said at the expo that the Silent Arrow could vastly improve battlefield logistics with heavy payloads and stealthy maneuvering.

Wide Load

The Silent Arrow can carry up to 1,631 pounds of cargo at once, according to Engadget, and Yates argues that it can do so for half of what it would cost to airdrop the same supplies into the field. And because the drone glides instead of plummeting to the Earth like a conventional airdrop, it's a slightly more inconspicuous as well.

At this point, it's unclear whether Yates Electrospace has a contract with the U.S. or any other military, according to Engadget. But the company says it's set to begin production in October, suggesting that someone out there is interested.

READ MORE: The Silent Arrow is a massive glider delivery drone [Engadget]

More on delivery drones: Why a Former Military Drone Pilot Now Steers Burrito Delivery Bots