DARPA’s concept of an air combat drone looks like a cruise missile loaded with air-to-air missiles.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is responsible for the development of the U.S. military’s most advanced equipment, now wants to develop an unmanned fighter jet “with air-to-air combat,” which could be seen as a realistic take on the Science Fiction movie “Stealth.
The Defense Blog reports that a statement from DARPA said the U.S. Department of Defense research department is launching the LongShot program, which aims to develop an air-to-air combat UAV that can carry air-to-air weapons and target enemy aircraft on its own.
Photo: DARPA’s air combat drone, pictured in 2017, does not yet have an internal bomb bay in mind.
DARPA has signed a Phase 1 preliminary design contract with General Atomic, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Corporation, and the four companies will first produce new UAVs that will function to expand the range of engagement, improve mission efficiency The four companies will first create new unmanned aircraft that can extend the range of engagement, increase mission effectiveness and maximize assistance to manned combat aircraft.
Current air superiority relies on advanced manned fighters to provide a breakthrough into enemy air defenses and defeat intercepting enemy aircraft. Predictably, unmanned warplanes, such as long-launch, could serve as a vanguard force to defend manned fighters from enemy threats, thereby improving pilot survivability.
Lt. Col. Paul Calhoun, DARPA program manager, said, “”The long-launch program is the next phase of unmanned warplanes that are capable of using advanced air-to-air weapons to suppress a variety of enemy air units.”
Recent Comments