Sometimes new technology sounds far stranger than fiction. The US government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has released a solicitation for the development of single-use drones that will disappear in daylight after delivering their payload. While the Internet has quickly named the potential system a "vampire drone," DARPA takes a more classical approach, calling it the "Inbound, Controlled, Air-Releasable, Unrecoverable Systems" project or ICARUS after the Greek myth of the boy who created wings that melted when he flew too close to the sun.
DARPA is seeking to develop autonomous, precision, air delivery vehicles that both safely deliver their package(s) and physically vanish, i.e. the vehicle's physical disappearance is part of its mission specification. Such a system would enable efficient resupply to teams in distributed locations, eliminate the need to repack/pack-out delivery parachutes resupplying small operating forces downrange, and create a capability to safely, and without detritus, deliver time-critical humanitarian supplies (e.g. food, perishable medical supplies) to civilian/NGO personnel serving in remote or dangerous areas.
DARPA has committed $8 million over 26 months for development of the new technology. The solicitation follows DARPA's VAPR project, which solicited partners to develop electronics that disintegrate upon command or introduction to water.