Welcome to Logistic Gliders Inc.

Logistic Gliders Inc. was founded in 2011 to develop innovations in aerial resupply. Our goal is to identify, develop, and flight test less expensive means of aviation logistic support. We are currently working on low-cost, attritable, unpowered & powered gliders. 

Our gliders are low cost, long range, stealthy, attritable aircraft designed for humanitarian relief missions and autonomous agile cargo distribution in “contested logistics” and anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) environments. They are sized to deliver up to 1,600 pound (725 kg) payloads and can be deployed from cargo aircraft or helicopters. They are constructed with low cost materials and could land anywhere a parachute can. 

Key Features:

• 50% greater glide range as compared to the competition 
• Gliders can land on their belly if terrain is flat 
•  Parachute allows landing into urban canyons, small clearings, dense forest or jungles, and very rough, hilly or mountainous terrain
• Glider’s fuselage can be used as the glider's shipping container
• Cargo access via two lightweight (less than 5 lb or 2 kg) interchangeable cargo hatches located on the top of the fuselage
• Glider's simplicity of design and construction allows mass production in large quantities in very short periods
• Gliders are the largest wingspan aircraft to have ever been deployed from a cargo aircraft

Progress to Date:

Logistic Gliders has completed twenty-two (22) prototype glider flight tests at 100% scale. Prototypes were disposable single use by design, so each test required a new glider. 

• 3 of the 22 were augmented with power to significantly extend their range
• 4 gliders were deployed from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules
• 8 gliders were deployed from a Shorts SC-7 Skyvan
• 10 gliders were deployed from a helicopter sling load (1 from Hiller CJ-5, 2 from Bell 206, 5 from Hughes MD-500D, and 2 from Sikorsky S-58T)
• 8 gliders were flown via Radio Control (RC) using First Person Video (FPV)
• 14 gliders were flown autonomously
• Total full-scale glider flight time of 1 hour, 51 minutes, & 22 seconds
• Unpowered 13.5 to 1 glide ratio demonstrated during a 11.8 nautical mile (nmi) or 21.8 kilometer (km) distance flight test
• Anticipate achieving an unpowered 15 to 1 glide ratio with upgraded wing
• 15 to 1 glide provides 61 nmi (71 statue miles or 114 km) range from 25,000 ft (7600 m) deployment altitude
• Maximum payload carried during a flight test was 880 pounds (400 kg). LG-2K RAIN glider is capable of carrying up to 1,600 lb (725 kg), however this has not been flight tested yet
• Maximum deployment altitude during a flight test was 20,000 ft (6100 m) - the maximum allowable altitude for the carrier aircraft (Shorts SC-7 Skyvan). Our gliders are designed for deployment from 35,000 ft (10700 m) or higher
• Completed 58 flight tests with 25% scale model
• Completed 37 flight tests with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used to test glider avionic systems
• Flight tested 7 different landing parachutes at full-scale
• First 25% scale model flight test occurred on 3 September 2011
• Latest 25% scale model flight test (58th) was on 25 August 2021
• First 100% scale prototype flight test was on 27 March 2012
• Latest 100% scale prototype flight test (22th) was on 19 May 2023
• Very long range Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) Command & Control (C2) achieved in laboratory environment on 9 December 2021

Potential Missions: 

• Humanitarian resupply of besieged cities or military units – Could have been a game changer in Mariupol
• Delivery of time-critical supplies to aircrew who are shot down – Aircrew can evade to less contested areas for rescue
• Aerial resupply in contested logistics and A2/AD environments – Increase standoff range for cargo aircraft
• Deliver moderate sized payloads over long ranges – Free C-130, V-22, & C-17 aircraft for larger cargoes
• Deliver supplies to a landing zone to support an airborne assault – Fewer manned aircraft exposed to enemy fire
• Ship-to-shore cargo delivery – Provide ship stand-off from cruise missiles & long-range precision fire
• Resupply of remote inaccessible areas such as Antarctica during the winter
• Aerial decoy
• Aerial target
• Participation in long range drone swarms
• Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) 
• Carriage of electronic counter measures (ECM)
• Support for psychological operations
• Logistic support for firefighting