The US Air Force has developed a method of emitting small drones from their air tankers KC-135 And examines the possibility of implementing the modifications on the planes.
According to them, the filling aircraft can emit UAVs (unmanned aircraft) to help defend themselves against future threats.
In addition to assisting in direct defense, the drones can also provide further situation understanding and potentially perform other missions in the future.
The prototype work on KC-135’s drone delivery mechanism (DDM) began in 2023 and was completed in the financial year 2024, which ended on September 30.
according to Twz However, it looks like the milestone was first published in the US Air Force’s budget proposal for the 2026 financial year, which began to be released last week. To complete the project, the Air Force requests $ 12.96 million.
The budget request for DDM describes the system as intended to provide “on board defense/ISR [intelligens, overvågning og rekognoscering] capacity for operations in a competitive environment. “
“Launching drones with the ability to emit unmanned aircraft (UAVs) from a KC-135 in flight [sigter mod] To provide a on board defense capacity, ”the Air Force added to the request.
“A prototype that integrates a Common Launch Tube (CLT) with a modified tailgate of KC-135 was used to produce and determine the feasibility of this concept.”
CLT is a standardized air broadcast system used by the US military on various platforms, especially aircraft with fixed wings for special operations and drones, to fire precision -controlled ammunitions and small unmanned aircraft systems.
Generally, CLT broadcasters can often be recharged from within the aircraft on which they are mounted, which can allow the KC-135s to fire more payrolls via DDM.
Now “Air Mobility Command and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center in discussions on the best approach to transfer KC-135 Drone Delivery Mechanism (DDM) to the relevant por [program of record] And implement the capacity of the KC-135 fleet. “
Image and video: USAF. This content is created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
