Mini drones from Gazelle and A400M: France's DGA tests releases from airborne platforms

France is currently evaluating a comparatively new operational requirement of the armed forces in depth: drones are to be released from crewed aircraft and then taken over by an operator on the ground. Responsibility lies with the Directorate of Engineering and Expertise (Direction de l’ingénierie et de l’expertise, DIE) of the DGA defence procurement agency. At first glance, the concept seems simple – mini drones are released from an aircraft or helicopter, then a ground operator takes control and carries out the mission.

In practice, however, the procedure is highly complex, as it depends on two central conditions. First: on leaving the carrier aircraft, the drone must be neither damaged nor destroyed – within a fraction of a second it accelerates from zero to the carrier's speed and is exposed to strong airflows and turbulence. Second: in this turbulence, the drone must neither damage the carrier aircraft nor get into safety-critical components.

Drop tests with mini drones from helicopter and transport aircraft

To minimise these risks, every candidate drone type was simulated numerically – both for aerodynamic characterisation and for safe separation from the carrier aircraft. The simulations then had to be confirmed in real trials. Here the specialist centres DGA Essais en vol, DGA Techniques aérospatiales and DGA Techniques terrestres came into play.

In several joint test campaigns, mini drones were dropped from, among others, the side door of a Gazelle helicopter and the rear ramp and the side paratrooper doors of an A400M transport aircraft. According to a recent DIE release, the trials were “extremely satisfactory” in both cases and “now pave the way for the intended clearance of these operational profiles in flight operations”.