Air Force pilots to try out XQ-58A Valkyrie drones ahead of potential UAV wingman program
“The expectation is that these aircraft can be designed to be less survivable and less capable, but still bring an awful lot to the fight in a mixture that the enemy has a very hard time sorting out and dealing with,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said.
By VALERIE INSINNA
on November 10, 2022 at 3:42 PM
WASHINGTON — As the Air Force considers starting a program of record for autonomous drone wingmen to fly alongside next-generation fighters, the service is tapping one of its test squadrons to begin regularly flying the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie.
The 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., has taken ownership of the first of two Valkyrie drones to be delivered to the unit, with the inaugural flight of the aircraft set to occur by the end of this month, the Air Force said in a Wednesday news release.
Basing the Valkyrie at Eglin, which boasts a test range that spans about 100,000 square nautical miles of airspace overlying the Florida panhandle and Gulf of Mexico, according to the Air Force, will allow the service to evaluate the drone’s ability to autonomously operate over vast distances, Maj. John Nygard, the squadron’s autonomous aircraft experimentation team lead, said in the release.
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/11/air-force-pilots-to-try-out-xq-58a-valkyrie-drones-ahead-of-potential-uav-wingman-program/
