ARES Flight Control Software & SOF Transport Concept Development

The objective of this Phase II effort is to develop Flight Control System (FCS) Software for Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) Demonstration Vehicle (DV) and to assess the viability of a future ARES concept, the ARES SOF for the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).  ARES is a modular multi-mission VTOL Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) platform focused on addressing emerging requirements within DoD and commercial markets for on demand logistics, emergency medical services, and other missions.  This effort will validate that a commercial off the shelf Fly-by-Wire (FBW) flight control system can be adapted to meet the ARES DV airworthiness requirements at a fraction of the costs of traditional military OEM solution and that the ARES SOF concept is suitable for AFSOC missions.  This Phase II will develop the initial software (Load 0) for the FCS, conduct testing and provide updates to the complete FCS development plan to get the ARES DV to flight. This effort will coordinate mission requirements with AFSOC for the ARES SOF and analyze the design in NDARC.