The Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration program, known as SHEPARD, sees its hybrid-electric uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) receive its official X-plane designation, XRQ-73. (Image: DARPA)
Cornerstone Research Group (CRG) is proud to be part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) X-prime program, SHEPARD, the XRQ-73.
Excerpt from the June 6, 2024, DARPA news release:
SHEPARD is an “X-prime” program, leveraging the series hybrid electric architecture and some of the component technologies from the earlier AFRL/IARPA Great Horned Owl (GHO) project.
“The idea behind a DARPA X-prime program is to take emerging technologies and burn down system-level integration risks to quickly mature a new missionized long endurance aircraft design that can be fielded quickly,” said Steve Komadina, SHEPARD program manager. “The SHEPARD program is maturing a specific propulsion architecture and power class as an exemplar of potential benefits for the Department of Defense.”
Read the full DARPA news release.