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X-61A Gremlins Recoverable Unmanned Air Vehicle Demonstrator Family

The X-61A Gremlins was a family of reusable unmanned air vehicles developed under DARPA’s Gremlins program to demonstrate air launch, autonomous formation flight, and airborne recovery of distributed UASs. The first flight test in late 2019 launched an X-61A from a C-130 for more than 90 minutes; later tests validated formation flying and recovery-system approaches for reusable airborne operations.

X-61A Gremlins Recoverable Unmanned Air Vehicle Demonstrator Family
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Identity

Aliases
X-61AGremlins Air VehicleGAVGremlins
Family Name
X-61A Gremlins
Full Name
X-61A Gremlins Recoverable Unmanned Air Vehicle Demonstrator Family
Roles
militaryresearchexperimentaltechnology_demonstrator
Status
retired
Type
aircraft

Details

Aircraft Specs
Configuration
fixed_wing
Operating Modes
land
Takeoff Landing Capabilities
conventional
Description
The X-61A Gremlins was a family of reusable unmanned air vehicles developed under DARPA’s Gremlins program to demonstrate air launch, autonomous formation flight, and airborne recovery of distributed UASs. The first flight test in late 2019 launched an X-61A from a C-130 for more than 90 minutes; later tests validated formation flying and recovery-system approaches for reusable airborne operations.
First Flight Year
2,019

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Creation Time
August 13, 2026 at 21:48:30 UTC
Updated Time
August 22, 2026 at 12:56:34 UTC