DARPA-US Navy Agreement to Develop Tern Concept

Unmanned Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAV DARPA and the Office of Naval Research (ONR)recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on...

Unmanned Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAV

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 Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN).

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 intelligence Surveilance Reconnaiscence 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&D prototype UAS from a vessel with the same deck size as an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

The first two phases of the program focus on preliminary design and risk reduction for the Tern system. Five performers are currently under contract for Phase 1. One or more of these performers may be selected to continue in Phase 2. In Phase 3, one performer would be selected to build a full-scale demonstrator Tern system for ground-based testing, culminating in an at-sea demonstration of launch and recovery.