U.S. Air Force’s stealthy unmanned combat aircraft damaged during test flight
Published 08:31 (GMT+0000) October 11, 2019
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that the newest XQ-58A Valkyrie stealthy unmanned combat aerial vehicle has successfully completed a third test flight but later the U.S. Air Force reported that XQ-58A Valkyrie has been damaged during its landing.
“The XQ-58A Valkyrie completed the third flight of the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstration program Oct. 9 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. Unfortunately, high surface winds and a malfunction of the vehicle’s provisional flight test recovery system resulted in a mishap after landing which damaged the aircraft,†according to a recent service news release.
During the 90 minute flight, the XQ-58A executed a perfect launch and met 56 of 56 baseline test points, plus two additional test points with excess fuel remaining after completion of the mission. After successful completion of the flight, the recovery parachute system worked flawlessly, and the aircraft descended nominally under the canopy system.
https://defence-blog.com/news/u-s-air-forces-stealthy-unmanned-combat-aircraft-damaged-during-test-flight.html
