Transporting supplies to emergency personnel and military teams that are based in difficult to access areas has been possible for quite some time. However, contemporary solutions require extra logistic efforts to realize the cleanup and disposal of the unmanned aircraft that accompanies the supplies. In order to eliminate this extra labor, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated the ICARUS program.   Greek Mythology One might know the name Icarus (Ikaros) from Greek mythology. Icarus was the son of Daedalus, and together they escaped imprisonment by implementing the principles of flight with self-made wings. Unfortunately, Icarus flew too close to the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt, thereby losing all the feathers attached to it. As a result, Icarus plunged into the sea and drowned. The tragic story of Icarus inspired DARPA to name their new project ICARUS (Inbound, Controlled, Air-releasable, Unrecoverable Systems). The goal of this project is to design single-use supply drones that automatically vanish after their job objective has been achieved, hence mimicking the disintegrating wings of young Icarus that led him to his death.   Disposal of supply vehicles During military operations in hostile areas, it is critical for the military personnel to make sure that no supply vehicles are left behind. The main reason for this is to prevent technology from falling into the wrong hands thereby handing over critical intelligence to the hostiles. This means that the military teams have to put in extra effort in dismantling and transporting the supply vehicle. This process is time consuming and can be a hazard to the outcome of the operation. Furthermore, not only military but also medical personnel and rescue teams who are stationed in disaster prone areas are currently required to put in extra effort in cleaning up the supply vehicles. This is why DARPA has started the ICARUS program. This program should result in the development of supply drones that can deliver payload to military or medical teams and then swiftly disintegrate, without leaving a visible trace. This will lead to military operations progressing more rapidly and thus having a higher chance of success. Furthermore, emergency personnel no longer have to be responsible for the disposal of the supply vehicles.   Cooperation with other projects ICARUS can actually be seen as an application of one of DARPA’s other projects: VAPR (Vanishing Programmable Resources), where...