Sinéad Baker
A US drone maker demonstrated using its drone with lasers to guide an F-35's munitions.
PDW said using its C100, which can fit in a backpack, keeps soldiers and aircraft safer.
Using the drone means an F-35 can stay higher and safer, and needs fewer supporting aircraft.
A US drone maker says it's found a way to make front-line soldiers and fighter jets safer. It's letting backpack-sized drones do the dangerous job of painting targets with lasers.
Performance Drone Works, or PDW, demonstrated to the Pentagon in July that its compact C100 drone can mark targets for strike fighters, doing a task traditionally done by exposed troops or multimillion-dollar aircraft.
A senior company official told Business Insider that the military, which is already buying the C100, can "buy down risk" to aircraft, soldiers, and missions. PDW has received multiple contracts from the Army for its C100 drones and multi-mission payloads.
"In the past, it was the soldier relying on the Air Force to use laser target designation, or much larger drones like the MQ-9 Reaper, to do literally the same thing," Raymond DePouli, PDW's director of strategic accounts, said. In other cases, troops on the ground might have to execute the task.
Soldiers can pull the drone out of their rucksack and have it operational in under five minutes, and the benefit of using a drone over a human being is that it can be flown from a concealed position far from the target to limit exposure and risk.
Systems like expensive aircraft "are going to be put in harm's way," DePouli said. The goal is to "reduce risk to the user so they can achieve their objectives."
Using small drones equipped with lasers to designate targets for other weapons, including aircraft, is something Ukraine is doing as it battles Russia, and it is something the US military has been experimenting with as it prepares for future fights.
Saving expensive aircraft
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