A DARPA press release (PDF format) describes the latest test flight of the A160 Hummingbird VTOL UAV. The autonomous Hummingbird is design for "surveillance and targeting, communications and data relay, lethal and non-lethal weapons delivery, assured crew recovery, resupply of forces in the field, and special operations missions". The UAV uses a hingeless, rigid rotor and will have a flight endurance of 24-48 hours. Because the Hummingbird doesn't need an airstrip, it may be used to smuggle UGCVs and other ground robots into enemy territory. A video (MPEG) of the test flight is also available.


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