A record-setting drone flight marked a historic first during Defense Contract Management Agency’s Blue List-sponsored “Game of Drones” event here July 16.

The flight set the endurance record of 521 minutes and 43 seconds for a battery-powered group 1 drone.

The fixed-wing drone was designed by software and 3D fabricated in a single day and integrated brushless motors manufactured by Army Materiel Command at Tobyhanna Army Depot. The motors were initially intended for use on a quad drone, and no bench test or test flight had been conducted prior to the record-setting flight.

The Prometheus auto-design software by Titan Dynamics, an additive-manufactured UAS and software company, was used to create the drone. The successful test was achieved in adverse flight conditions of 35 mph wind gusts and a high temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit. The drone was recovered close to the launch site at the conclusion of the flight.

Rapid digital manufacturing is making the distributed production of military capabilities increasingly feasible.

One of the goals of the “Game of Drones” events is to determine how testing should work in this new paradigm of leveraging small, inexpensive UAS platforms fabricated from commercial technology, said Air Force Col. Dustin Thomas, DCMA Unmanned Systems-Experimental commander.

“‘Game of Drones’ is intended to collect operational test data, user feedback and performance data,” Thomas said.

The DCMA Blue List team developed and sponsored the event, which was run in cooperation with other agencies including the Air Force Experimental Test Force and the Griffiss Institute, a not-for-profit organization, which serves as an intermediary to federal service laboratories and American industry.