Footage Released Of 'Swarm Drone' Being Launched From Fighter Jet

The Pentagon has released footage of a 'micro-drone' being released from a fighter jet.

The US military is currently experimenting with the new 3D-printed technology, which could in future take to the sky like a swarm of robotic locusts.

150 tests took place in Alaska in summer 2015, according to the Washington Post, 72 of which were from fighter jets.

In the footage sent to the Washington Post, a micro-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) is shot out of an F-16 moving at 430 mph, 2,000 feet above the Earth's surface, before descending inside a parachute-equipped canister.

After a moment, the micro-drone, which has inch-wide propellers and weighs roughly a pound (450 grams), breaks free and its wings spread to catch the wind. 

They can be fired from the flare dispensers of F-16 and F/A-18 fighter jets, as well as from the ground by hand, or using a sling-shot like device.

In future, they could use situational awareness to create a swarm.

Although many details about the technology are classified, it's been argued it could be used for surveillance or as a way of confusing enemy forces.

In a speech in February, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter hinted at the capabilities of the swarming micro-drones. He said:

"In the air, they develop micro-drones that are really fast, really resistant.

"They can fly through heavy winds and be kicked out the back of a fighter jet moving at Mach 0.9, like they did during an operational exercise in Alaska last year, or they can be thrown into the air by a soldier in the middle of the Iraqi desert."

The program, which costs around $20 million, is named after Perdix, a character in Greek legend who was turned into a partridge by the goddess Athena.

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