Army planning ’26 demo with ‘ultra long-range’ launched effect contenders

AUSA 2025 — The US Army is on the hunt for an air-launched unmanned platform that can soar out ahead 1,000 miles or more, and is looking to demo potential contenders next year, according to a senior service official.

“The idea with an ultra long-range launch effect is to extend the sensor capabilities of the Army and the Joint Force beyond what the organic platform itself can deliver,” said Andrew Evans, director for the Strategy & Transformation Office inside the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence shop (G-2).

While an acquisition plan is still in the works, the idea is to ultimately outfit spy planes like the future High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES).

“Imagine a scenario where you can bring a jet into an operational area, but you can’t get close enough to the threat … and then you send something in that can go even further, and now you have some penetrating capability,” he added. 

“Launched effects” can be a broad term but often refer to smaller drones that shoot out of something else mid-flight and can be used to collect information or strike targets. The service has been working on three ranges — short, medium and long — with tentative plans to also find a new ultra long-range option that can host payloads like Electro-Optical/Infrared and radio frequency sensors.

The tentative plan, according to Evans, is to host a demo of potential contenders somewhere in the April to late-September 2026. The location for that event has not yet been nailed down but will be on US soil. So far there are three or four contenders that might launch their capability from the ground for starters.

“In 2027 the idea would be to take the lessons that we learned in ‘26 and then put it on an aircraft … and then launch it,” Evans said.