DoD’s Tern program will revolutionize small ships with persistent ISR and strike capabilities anywhere in the world.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has moved to a third and final stage of an effort to launch medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from US Navy’s relatively small surface ships like destroyers, frigates, and even freighters and expects an initial flight test in 2018.