Aurora SideArm Earns DARPA Contract

Aurora’s GoldenEye 80 surveillance UAS, which also began under a DARPA program. Photo courtesy Aurora Flight Sciences.

by Scott Kesselman



Aurora Flight Sciences joins Northrop Grumman and AeroVironment as the third company to receive continuation funding from phase one results of DARPA’s Tern program.  



DARPA has awarded Aurora with a contract to develop its SideArm launch-and-recovery system for medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial systems based off small ships.



“The SideArm system could provide runway independence to fixed-wing unmanned air systems as part of Tern’s vision,” says Aurora Chief Technology Officer Tom Clancy. “This is a driver for responsive and persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance coverage of remote targets almost anywhere.”