The XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV that dropped the ALTIUS-600 small UAV in this test.
The U.S. military announced the completion of a test of the XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV’s bomb bay dropping an ALTIUS-600 small UAV, according to the Chinese Communist Observer.
According to the U.S. Air Force, an XQ-58A Valkyrie drone conducted a test on March 26, opening its bomb bay and dropping a small ALTIUS-600 drone while flying over the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. This was the sixth time the Valkyrie drone has been flight tested at Yuma Proving Ground, and the first time it opened its bomb bay and dropped an ALTIUS-600 drone carried in a barrel launcher during a test flight, according to the report.
The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone first flew in March 2019, ahead of Boeing’s Loyal Wingman drone, which only completed its maiden flight this year. The aircraft was developed by Kratos Defense and Security. The company is based in San Diego, U.S., and previously focused on target aircraft business. Steve Findlay, head of the company’s UAV program, said the successful test put an exclamation point on the company’s 30-month-long collaboration with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, showing that the Valkyrie drone has a strong combat capability before it goes into mass production, and is not just a demonstrator for proof-of-concept flights. The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone is said to be multifunctional and can undertake different kinds of missions. The drone can also be used as a combat consumable, cheap enough that commanders can accept it with good grace when faced with a certain number of losses in combat.
The test flight to drop the small drone was more demanding in terms of altitude and speed than previous test flights, said Allison Turley, head of the program for the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force hopes that the future can use the XQ-58A “Valkyrie” UAV to act as a communications node for the F-35 and F-22 fighters, rather than just seeing it as the future Skyborg system – the next generation of U.S. autonomous unmanned fighter intelligence platform. This platform is planned to be equipped with artificial intelligence and can fly autonomously and operate alongside tactical aircraft.
First flight of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, source: U.S. Air Force
The U.S. Air Force’s vision of the future XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV
The U.S. Air Force’s program director, Allison Turley, said the test flight to launch the small UAV was more demanding than previous test flights in terms of altitude and speed. The U.S. Air Force hopes that the future can use the XQ-58A “Valkyrie” UAV to serve as a communications node for the F-35 and F-22 fighter jets, rather than just seeing it as the future Skyborg system – the next generation of U.S. autonomous unmanned fighter intelligence platform. This platform is planned to be equipped with artificial intelligence to fly autonomously and operate alongside tactical aircraft.
ALTIUS-600 small unmanned aircraft, source: Area-I Corporation
The ALTIUS-600 Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAS) is being developed by Area-I. According to the developer Area-I, the aircraft has a maximum weight of about 12 kilograms, its nose can carry no more than 3 kilograms of functional parts and has a stall time of about four hours. Despite its small size, the aircraft flies well and can perform a wide variety of missions, including electronic warfare, counter-drones, reconnaissance and surveillance. The U.S. military is now actively testing the drone, to promote this small UAV to achieve multi-platform air-launched deployment. The U.S. Army used the MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV last year to launch the small UAV in the air and put it into tactical deployment. part of last year’s Project Convergence military exercise. And just last week, military contractor Anduril Technologies announced it will acquire Area-I, which developed the ALTIUS-600 small UAV. According to Anduril Technologies’ plans, it will buy Area-I in its entirety in the future and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary, continuing to use the Area-I brand.
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Source: U.S. Air Force
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is one of the U.S. Army’s major research centers, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. It is responsible for nine technology areas and has approximately 40 divisions and more than 11,000 employees worldwide, providing services to the U.S. military in process areas ranging from basic research to advanced development, as well as technology applications. The laboratory has an integral position in a number of research areas, including aviation, space and cyber warfare technologies, exploring, developing and integrating related technologies.
XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV takeoff from a previous test, source: U.S. Air Force
Following the test flight, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory announced that both Kratos and Area-I were involved in a partnership with the agency to develop supporting software and modify the XQ-58A Valkyrie drone hardware to complete the test of the air-delivered subtype drone. The successful test flight of the ALTIUS-600 small UAV demonstrated that the XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV is a high-performance UAV that can afford to fight in the field. The results of this test were in line with expectations, indicating that the Valkyrie UAV’s range of application has been enhanced and that the series of tests set up around this goal were successfully concluded.
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