The US has shown it can bring down spy balloons but wants to grab the payloads intact. (Photo: USN)
Laboriously designated Project CAPTURE (Capturing Aerial Payloads To Unleash Reliable Exploitation), the work is structured as a Small Business Innovation Research procurement and is progressing straight to Phase Two. According to DARPA it ‘should produce a fieldable prototype final design review that satisfies project objectives in no more than six months after contract award’.
‘A follow-on option phase should include a final demonstration no more than 9 to 12 months after contract award.’
The objective is to ‘develop and demonstrate a prototype system to capture and recover exploitable payloads from slow speed high-altitude aerial systems of interest within or approaching US sovereign airspace’.
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Ignoring the difficulty of detecting any such balloon, the interception and capture of a payload from such a slow-moving system at an altitude of up to 60,000ft, described as threshold, to 75,000ft, described as the objective, is obviously challenging.
As highlighted in the solicitation: ‘The F-22 is one of few aircraft able to operate at an altitude above 50,000ft. Additionally, these aircraft travel at hundreds of miles per hour while attempting to identify and target slow-moving or stationary objects’.
Earlier this month, the Senate Committee on Appropriations proposed an additional $293.5 million for new and upgraded radars plus communications equipment to protect the US homeland. The balloon episode has pushed lawmakers towards increasing the Pentagon’s budget to improve its detection capabilities.
Launched at DSEI 2025 for the first time, the first-person-view uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) is available as 10-inch and 7-inch variant, ideal for surveillance or one-way strike missions.
As the home of British helicopters, Leonardo has worked with the UK Ministry of Defence for over a decade to advance technologies underpinning uncrewed rotorcraft. Today, in partnership with DE&S Future Capabilities Innovation and the Royal Navy, Leonardo is spearheading the next step in that journey: from remotely piloted technologies to fully autonomous systems.
Focused on shaping the armed forces for the fight ahead, DSEI will hone in on new technology and small and medium enterprises to help lead the sector forward.
The surveillance aircraft from Boeing is deployed by various countries, most notably the Royal Australian Air Force; but ongoing setbacks for future customers, who cite rising costs and delays, have thrown the aircraft into the spotlight.
India has issued urgent RFIs for more than 270 reconnaissance, surveillance and utility helicopters across its services, signalling a systemic overhaul of rotary-wing capabilities with a renewed emphasis on indigenous production and technology transfer.
The US Department of Defence (DoD) previously selected Anduril Industries and General Atomics to develop production-representative prototypes under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme. A competitive Increment 1 production decision is expected in FY2026.
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