The drone revolution continues in the military as these unmanned aerial (or wheeled) vehicles are getting to be indispensable tools on how militaries fight their wars in order to help lessen the risk to soldiers whilst undertaking their missions. Their most immediate function is to provide reconnaissance, being, usually being eyes in the sky so they can transmit positions of enemy troops, leaving no room for surprise.

They come in all shapes and sizes, including how they are launched. Now, researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have designed a camera drone that can be launched quickly from a 40mm grenade launcher such as the M203s and the M320s that are in use in the U.S. Army.

Called the Grenade Launched Unmanned Aerial System, or GLUAS, there are two variants. The first one is the Glide variant which has folding blade propellers and Mylar paragliding wings. The second one uses a more familiar method, with a gimbaling set of coaxial rotors according to the U.S. Army website.

Since it is launched using grenade launchers, the GLUAS can be launched quickly, especially when the troops are under sniper rifle. If unable to locate the sniper, the GLUAS is used as an eye in the sky, looking for the location of the hidden enemy or ambushed by an enemy squad that is on higher ground and well hidden. Once deployed, the drone deploys its wings or rotors and can be controlled remotely with a joystick, transmitting a video feed to the ground station or controller. It can fly up 2,000 feet, a 2 kilometer radius, and has a flight time of 90 minutes.

John Gerdes, a mechanical engineer with ARL said, “This device provides an autonomy and intelligence platform to help Soldiers perform useful missions while having a lookout from hundreds of feet in the air. This integrates modern types of intelligence."

He adds that, "Things like GPS receivers and flight controllers are very feasible to install [onto the GLUAS], which makes it easy to maintain a position or follow a ground unit. Basically, if there is something you want to look at, but you have no idea where it is yet, that’s where the drone comes in.”

Just like the Black Hornet Nano drone, researchers are taking advantage of miniaturization technologies so they can develop UAVs that can be used at a squad or fire team levels. The GLAUS design takes advantage of being carried by soldiers using existing pouches or bandoleers rather than requiring another set of pouches. The soldiers carrying the GLAUS should be able remember which 40mm projectile to use for certain purposes, they might fire the 40mm GLAUS thinking it’s a regular 40mm grenade rather than their recon drone.

Top photo: U.S. Army soldier with M320 grenade launcher (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Moore, Eighth Army Public Affairs)