autoevolution 21 Feb 2021, 15:53 UTC · by In the first decade of February, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, better known as DARPA, announced the start of the design phase of a program it calls LongShot. Three companies were selected for this stage, namely General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. 1 photo LongShot's goal is to come with an air-launched unmanned weapons system that could use a multitude of air-to-air weapons, but also come with increased range. In essence, these drones are to become what manned aircraft are today, capable of getting deep inside enemy territory and strike. As per the requirements of the project, the ones that were made public at least, the new drone should be capable of multi-modal propulsion, but also capable of being deployed from the existing fighter aircraft and bombers.