March 1, 2020
Not Your Daddy's Drone: America's XQ-58A Valkyrie Could Be the Future
It's a partner for America's manned combat jets.
by Michael Peck
Key point: Or is this all just hype?
What’s not to like about a robot wingman?
There’s a lot of buzz about the first flight of an unmanned U.S. Air Force drone, designed to accompany manned combat aircraft into battle, that many believe will herald a new age of aerial warfare.
Looking at a photo of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, and it’s easy to believe that something has changed. Today’s drones, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, are goofy-looking airplanes with fat noses, old-fashioned propellers and a cruising speed not much faster than a Cessna prop job. But with its twin tail, curved fuselage and a jet engine that propels it to near-supersonic speed, the XQ-58A looks like a smaller F-35 stealth fighter.
This is not your daddy’s drone.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/not-your-daddys-drone-americas-xq-58a-valkyrie-could-be-future-128307
