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Quad A 2016: US Army eyes revolutionary UAS

29th April 2016 - 23:01 GMT | by Grant Turnbull in Atlanta

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The US Army is planning to set out fresh requirements in the mid-2020s for a runway-independent UAS, with the service potentially eyeing revolutionary designs that utilise vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities.

Speaking at Quad A in Atlanta, Georgia, Maj Gen William Gayler, commanding general of the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) at Fort Rucker, Alabama, set out current challenges with the service’s UAS fleet in the context of global instability.

‘We must become less reliant on runways,’ said Gayler. ‘The Gray Eagle needs a 4,500ft runway…in areas of instability, where are we going to conveniently establish

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Grant Turnbull

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Grant Turnbull was the editor of Land Warfare International and Digital Battlespace magazines with Shephard …

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