Silent Arrow has received a contract to test its proprietary Contested Logistics System – 300 Nautical Miles (CLS-300) unmanned aerial system for the US Air Force.
The California-based company developed the drone as part of a project by the service’s innovation segment, AFWERX. The project aims to produce a long-range cargo platform for future equipment transport missions.
For the $1.2-million deal, Silent Arrow will formally start the evaluation stage of CLS-300’s intended capabilities, including its 1,000-pound (454-kilogram) payload capacity and operability between 300 and 500 nautical miles (556 to 926 kilometers) in austere domains.
Work for the test contract will be facilitated under the air force’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer framework, which expedites innovative developments and associated contract executions with small industry partners for faster military solutions production.
“We’d like to thank the US Air Force, AFWERX, AFRL and our Air Force Customer and End-User organizations for expanding our successful partnership by awarding this follow-on Phase II,” Silent Arrow CEO and Founder Chip Yates stated.
“We look forward to building on our Phase I propulsion test success as we prepare a number of full-scale aircraft for flight tests in Q3 and Q4 of 2025.”
The CLS-300 System
CLS -300 is a scaled-up version of Silent Arrow’s GD-2000 heavy-lift resupply and lift glider drone, which can airdrop from military transport aircraft, including the A400M Atlas, C17 Globemaster III, and the C-139 Hercules.
In operations, the CLS-300 is expected to provide 10 times the flight range of the older system by using a more efficient propeller and engine.
Alongside airborne platforms, the CLS-300 is planned to deploy from ground surface points and naval ships.
Silent Arrow first partnered with the US Air Force in 2021 to supply the GD-2000 for the service.
The following year, the firm tested the GD-2000’s functions for the US military in a foreign deployment, where the drone carried undisclosed equipment weighing more than its supposed maximum payload.