Tactical UAVs

XQ-58A Valkyrie

The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie is a stealthy unmanned combat aerial vehicle originally designed and built by Kratos and demonstrated to the United States Air Force through the Low-Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator program, under the USAF Research Laboratory’s Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology (LCAAT) project portfolio. The LCAAT portfolio was established to break the escalating cost trajectory of tactically relevant aircraft and provide an affordable, significantly lower cost/weight solution as an unmanned escort or wingman aircraft alongside a crewed fighter aircraft in combat.

Representing a clean-sheet, low-cost tactical UAS, the XQ-58A is changing the paradigm for tactical UAS technology. Flying since 2019, Kratos’ XQ-58A Valkyrie is a high-performance, survivable, tactical UAV capable of long-range flights at high-subsonic speeds currently in production in Oklahoma City.

The Valkyrie can serve as a loyal wingman, conduct single UAS operations, or operate in swarms. Combined with its affordability, survivability, long range, high-subsonic speeds, maneuverability, and ability to carry flexible mission kit configurations and a mix of lethal weapons from its internal bomb bay and wing stations, the XQ-58A provides extreme flexibility for the multiple Department of Defense customers that have it under contract today. It is also a key technology to prove the effectiveness of autonomous electronic support to crewed platforms, as well as demonstrate the potential for AI-enabled platforms to augment combat air patrols, while continuing to mature other manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capability objectives.

The Valkyrie’s ability to be pre-deployed and operated remotely, without requiring runway or airfield operations, make it a critical deterrence for near-peer adversaries, while delivering maximum operational flexibility and utility to the U.S. warfighter. With design and production approaches leveraged and evolved from Kratos’ affordable jet drone target aircraft, the high-performance Valkyrie falls well within the attritable cost class, as defined by the House-passed 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—another key discriminator and enabler to achieve the Department of Defense’s mass mission.

Valkyrie: This Stealthy AI Drone Could Be the Military’s Next Weapon

The Valkyrie XQ-58A is a combat drone designed to deliver weapons or assist fighter jets — using artificial intelligence. The prototype has been in development for years and is able to travel 3,000 miles at an altitude of up to 45,000 ft. Experts now say this unmanned vehicle could play a role in a multi-billion-dollar U.S. military effort to use AI to expand its assets to keep up with increasingly advanced adversaries like China.

UTAP-22 Mako

Based upon the proven success of the U.S. Air Force BQM-167A aerial target, the Kratos Unmanned Tactical Aerial Platform (UTAP-22) provides the warfighter with an affordable, fighter-like unmanned aircraft capable of collaborative operations with manned assets in contested environments. With an operational ceiling of 50,000 feet and a top speed exceeding .9 Mach, the Kratos UTAP-22 high-performance design provides an unmanned partner/wingman to the warfighter.

The Kratos UTAP-22 approach allows flexibility in command and control architecture, ample payload capacity, and flexible vehicle signatures in a low cost system. Utilizing a minimal footprint rocket-assisted launch and precision parachute recovery, the Kratos UTAP-22 solution can operate in austere locations without a runway.

The versatile design of the Kratos UTAP-22 supports various mission requirements by accepting a wide array of internal and external payloads. The large, configurable auxiliary bays provide up to 8.5 cubic feet of payload volume. Additional payloads may be incorporated after thorough review. Customer-furnished payloads may be considered for integration.

X-61A Gremlin

The Gremlins program is an important strategic effort for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). First flown in November of 2019, the X-61A Gremlin Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is produced by Kratos teaming with prime contractor Dynetics, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leidos.

The goal of the Gremlins project is the airborne launch and recovery of groups of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) from existing large aircraft as well as fighters and other small fixed-wing aircraft. Upon completion of their mission, the Gremlins will be recovered in the air by a C-130 transport aircraft and transported to facilities to undergo preparation for the next mission.