Drone Swarms Descend Upon Mock City Hall

In June, DARPA held its second field experiment for the OFFSET program. The OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program, pairs autonomous air and ground robots to complete missions in urban environments. 

The test was held at Selby Combined Arms Collective Training Facility in Fort Benning, Georgia. The exercise spanned two city blocks, and the swarms had to locate and isolate a mock city hall building, secure an objective inside and then secure the building. All while creating and monitoring a perimeter, in 30 minutes. 

This was the second of six planned tests that will take place about six months apart. 

The OFFSET program is made up of Swarm System Integrators and Swarm Sprinters. The Integrators, from Northrop Grumman and Raytheon BBN, create the tools the Swarm Sprinters from various teams and universities use to perform specific tasks. 

The program isn't thinking small. DARPA envisions a future in which small, human ground units will be assisted by swarms of 250 collaborative autonomous robots. Likely a combination of flying drones and robotic dogs