The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone has completed another test flight. What was special this time was that it dropped its own drone – the ALTIUS-600 – in the air. It was the sixth of the Valkyrie’s flights since March 2019, and the first to test this capability.
This was announced by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) a few days ago announced. The test was carried out on March 26 in Arizona at the Yuma Proving Ground, one of the world’s largest military sites. Not only was a new capability tested; the drone also flew faster and higher than before, according to the press release. Not much else is known about the test. This cannot be due to the insignificance of the event, as the aircraft and its tested capabilities are interesting for several reasons. The name of the Valkyrie drone says it all: just as the Valkyrie in Norse mythology as a shield maid fulfills the function of the protective spirit of chosen warriors, the drone of the same name serves to protect other aircraft from the enemy. It is designed to support fighter and tanker aircraft in their mission at close range by conducting reconnaissance, engaging enemy targets, but also taking on attacks from the enemy to protect the manned fighter jets. The drone’s ability to fly in formation with manned fighter jets is called “loyal wingman” and was tested earlier this year. Developed by Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, a leader in new weapons technologies, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory, the XQ-58A Valkyrie is powered by a jet engine and can fly at high ultrasonic speeds. It is 8.8 meters long, has a wingspan of 6.7 meters and a range of almost 4,000 kilometers. It can launch missiles, bombs and – as in the last test flight – drones. The small ALTIUS-600 drone was used for the test. The acronym stands for Agile-Launched, Tactically-Integrated, Unmanned System, which also means “higher” in Latin. With a maximum weight of twelve kilograms, a length of one meter and a wingspan of 2.5 meters, it belongs to the group of small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS). According to the manufacturer Area-I it can stay in the air for up to four hours and cover a distance of 430 kilometers. Designed as a payload carrier, it can be equipped differently depending on the mission, for example with a full-motion video camera, jammers (so-called jammers) or explosives. Its tasks are correspondingly diverse, ranging from information gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance to electronic warfare and use as a kamikaze – a drone that launches itself at a target and explodes. It was also an important test flight for the ALTIUS-600. The mini-drone had previously been launched from the C-130A and AC-130J transport aircraft, the HC-60 Black Hawk transport helicopter and the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and submarine fighter. In addition to air and sea launches, ground launches are also possible, according to the Area-I website.
Air war of the future
The sparse information available on the tested ability leaves plenty of room for speculation. On the one hand, important questions remain unanswered with regard to the test procedure and the performance data obtained. For example, it remains unclear how many small drones the Valkyrie could carry in the inner shaft, how the interaction between the Valkyrie and the ALTIUS-600 went and how many more such flight tests are to be carried out. No less interesting is the question of how the knowledge gained in the course of all the Valkyrie tests to date will affect the further development of the drones and their capabilities. In any case, the XQ-58A Valkyrie and ALTIUS-600 appear to herald a new stage in the US military-technological project. The fact that the US Air Force intends to increasingly rely on the use of drones as “loyal wingmen” to increase the effectiveness of its air force is demonstrated by the Skyborg program. Skyborg, under which the Valkyrie was also developed, is a top priority in the development of ground-breaking combat capabilities for the US Air Force. The aim is to develop comparatively low-cost, artificial intelligence-based unmanned aerial vehicles that can be deployed alongside manned fighter jets. As mentioned above, this capability of the Valkyrie was tested during its fifth test earlier this year.
The recent test of the Valkyrie with the small drone could in turn be a step towards the use of networked drone swarms that operate as autonomously as possible. ALTIUS-600 is also part of the US Army’s ALE (Air-Launched Effects) program, which is aimed at developing small airborne drones that are capable of operating semi-autonomously together with other manned or unmanned aircraft and helicopters for various tasks. The development of drone swarms is a capability that the Pentagon has been researching for years. The fact that ALTIUS-600 drones could be used for this purpose can be inferred from statements made by Brian Schimpf, CEO of Anduril Industries. At the beginning of April, Anduril acquired Area-I, the company that developed the ALTIUS-600 drone, as a subsidiary, although Area-I will continue to operate under its own brand. In an interview with the platform Defense News, Schimpf recently said that he was “blown away” by the capabilities of ALTIUS-600 and sees huge potential in the possibility of launching and flying several of the drones together from one platform. Together with Area-I, Anduril wants to push the development of ALTIUS-600 to its “technological limits” with the aim of using the drones for “far more complex missions” than before, according to Schimpf. The AI-supported “Lattice” software developed by Anduril, which has previously been used for AI-supported border and surveillance systems, the tracking of cruise missiles and the development of counter-drones, is to be used for this purpose. The Low-Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) program, under which the Valkyrie drone was developed, may be an indication that the US is increasingly looking to invest in low-cost, multi-role drones. The comparatively low cost of the Valkyrie, estimated at two to three million euros, would allow it to be produced in large numbers so that it could be used on a wider scale, but also for high-risk missions where its chances of survival are not high in the first place. Even if there are still many question marks, one thing is certain: “Loyal wingmen” and drone swarms will play an important role in gaining air superiority on the battlefield in the future. This can be seen not only in the efforts of the USA, but also Russia and above all China, which are conducting intensive research in this field. The transformation of war in the skies is gradually gathering pace.
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