One of the offshoot of DARPA’s Tern project is to let ships deploy sensors to increase their situation awareness by using a parafoil towed behind the ship.
![drones-cool-3-100586226-orig[1]](http://www.milrecon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/drones-cool-3-100586226-orig1.png)
Image: DARPA
The Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems (TALONS) allows sensors of up to 150 pounds to be lifted to between 500 and 1,500 feet in altitude. This increased the sensors’ effectiveness several times compared to mounting them on the ship’s mast.