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The Valkyrie drone launches an even smaller drone from inside its payload bay
WASHINGTON — The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie drone successfully launched an even smaller unmanned aircraft from inside its internal weapons bay on March 26, the U.S. Air Force announced Monday.
During the Valkyrie’s sixth flight test at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, it opened its payload bay doors in flight for the first time and released an ALTIUS-600, a small tube-launched autonomous drone made by Area-I, a Georgia-based company that designs unmanned aerial systems.
The Valkyrie is an “attritable” drone, the word the military uses for an asset that can be reused but is cheap enough that a commander would expect and be comfortable with a certain amount of losses while in combat.
The Air Force is experimenting with using the Valkyrie as a communications node for the F-35 and F-22, as well as assessing it as a potential “Skyborg” system that would be equipped with artificial intelligence and be able to fly autonomously alongside tactical aircraft.
ALTIUS-600 can be launched for a variety of missions, including electronic warfare, signals intelligence, counter-UAS, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and can also be outfitted to produce kinetic effects. It can weigh up to 27 pounds — including a six-pound payload stored in its nose — and has an endurance of about four hours, according to Area-I.
Both Kratos and Area-I worked with the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop software and fabricate a carriage that would allow the Valkyrie to release the ALTIUS-600, AFRL stated in a release.
Once the launch of the ALTIUS system was complete, the Valkyrie completed additional tests geared toward expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope, AFRL said.
“In addition to this first [small UAS] separation demonstration, the XQ-58A flew higher and faster than previous flights,” Alyson Turri, the Air Force’s program manager for the demonstration
The Army is also experimenting with the ALTIUS platforms as part of its Air-Launched Effects (ALE) demonstrations, including last year’s Project Convergence demo which saw the UAS deployed from an MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone.
Last week, Anduril Technologies announced plans to buy Area-I and operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary that would retain the Area-I brand.
www.defensenews.com
WASHINGTON — The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie drone successfully launched an even smaller unmanned aircraft from inside its internal weapons bay on March 26, the U.S. Air Force announced Monday.
During the Valkyrie’s sixth flight test at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, it opened its payload bay doors in flight for the first time and released an ALTIUS-600, a small tube-launched autonomous drone made by Area-I, a Georgia-based company that designs unmanned aerial systems.
The Valkyrie is an “attritable” drone, the word the military uses for an asset that can be reused but is cheap enough that a commander would expect and be comfortable with a certain amount of losses while in combat.
The Air Force is experimenting with using the Valkyrie as a communications node for the F-35 and F-22, as well as assessing it as a potential “Skyborg” system that would be equipped with artificial intelligence and be able to fly autonomously alongside tactical aircraft.
ALTIUS-600 can be launched for a variety of missions, including electronic warfare, signals intelligence, counter-UAS, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and can also be outfitted to produce kinetic effects. It can weigh up to 27 pounds — including a six-pound payload stored in its nose — and has an endurance of about four hours, according to Area-I.
Both Kratos and Area-I worked with the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop software and fabricate a carriage that would allow the Valkyrie to release the ALTIUS-600, AFRL stated in a release.
Once the launch of the ALTIUS system was complete, the Valkyrie completed additional tests geared toward expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope, AFRL said.
“In addition to this first [small UAS] separation demonstration, the XQ-58A flew higher and faster than previous flights,” Alyson Turri, the Air Force’s program manager for the demonstration
The Army is also experimenting with the ALTIUS platforms as part of its Air-Launched Effects (ALE) demonstrations, including last year’s Project Convergence demo which saw the UAS deployed from an MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone.
Last week, Anduril Technologies announced plans to buy Area-I and operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary that would retain the Area-I brand.
Valkyrie drone launches even smaller drone from inside payload bay
In its sixth flight test, the Valkyrie released a payload while in flight for the first time.
www.defensenews.com
