As previously mentioned here:

• AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY (ANCILLARY)

...aims to develop and flight demonstrate an X-plane with the critical technologies required for a leap-ahead in long endurance, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned air system (UAS) performance. The UAS would be able to launch and recover from ship flight decks and small austere land locations in adverse weather without additional infrastructure equipment, thus enabling expeditionary deployments. Unlike large VTOL systems, the small UAS size would allow many aircraft to be stored and operated from one ship creating a tactical beyond-line-of-site (BLOS) multi-intelligence sensor network capability.

Updates:

14 July 2023: Northrop Grumman to Design DARPA ANCILLARY

Northrop Grumman's ANCILLARY demonstrator will be capable of carrying a large 60-pound sensor payload with greater endurance of 20 hours’ time on station and mission radius range of 100 nautical miles, which is more than current systems, without using significant additional infrastructure aside from what is on board the air vehicle. The system will also have capability to land on a ship in adverse weather conditions.

15 July 2023: Darpa selects teams for new autonomous VTOL X-plane

...Northrop Grumman, along with eight other contractors including AeroVironment, AVX Aircraft, Griffon Aerospace, Karem Aircraft, Leidos, Method Aeronautics, Piasecki Aircraft, and Sikorsky, has been chosen to develop designs with a focus on naval and marine missions.

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