It was only a matter of time before someone designed and developed a drone capable of keeping up with modern fighters. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is going to be demonstrating its latest model of fast, long range and stealthy drone aircraft that have the capability of flying formation with a fighter in the air or be operated independently from the ground with the capacity to be switched back and fourth between networks.
The QX-222 Valkyrie and the UTAP-22 Mako are expected to both make an appearance next week at the Paris Airshow. According to the company’s press releases, our government has already ordered six “high performance aerial drones,” I would assume to evaluate.
Besides the potential to fly in formation with manned aircraft, these new weapons offer a modern air force the ability “to cover more space at a lower cost point.”
I’m guessing there are a lot of white flags around.
“keeping up”? Not hardly. All modern fighters are limited by the human pilot. They call all perform at levels that would injure the human inside.
Just because the airframe will handle a 20G turn doesn’t mean Major Bob can. So violent maneuvers like that are limited by the control system. Drones don’t care.
Cybernetic Honey Badgers.
If they work it could be a massive force multiplier for the Air Force. Even if only in the role of carrying extra weapons it could reduce the number of manned US aircraft to a few that could fully control huge patches of air. Let’s hope the Pentagon did a better job on this then the Navy did on the LCS program or the George W Bush Aircraft Carrier or for that matter the money shoveled into Tesla and SpaceX. I read recently that Sweden (or Switzerland) dropped the government subsidies for the cars and sales dropped 96% in one month. Yep, helluva a car.
Send a drone towards the guy attacking this woman.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/15/french-conservative-candidate-knocked-campaign-trail/
but we are a service industry country, can we count on our manufacturing source countries to supply what we need when and where we need it in time of crisis?
Skynet has become self aware.
Anyone, other than me, remember this movie????
Stealth (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382992/
Lowell–great comparison. For those that may not know, the Honey Badger is fearless,
and will fight with all comers. Pound for pound, he is the meanest and toughest creature in all creation.
Community Cubicle College of the Chair Force
Student RTF DigiManual 1981, Reprint
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rchtLH2-ebw
Chiggerbug: I was thinking of another movie. The Last Starfighter. It would be ironic if video gamers fought the war of the future.
I’ve watched my share of science fiction.
Armed robots never end well.
Klaatu barada nikto.
I believe the really revolutionary aspect here will be the multilayers of networking that will allow a formation of these things to be handed off from one aircraft to another to a ground control back up to an air controller.
Image the potential when these things are synced up with AWACS.
Those without will have to come up with ways to hack into, disable or otherwise block the linkages.
Why not put the technology in existing fighters? How about in the older models that are being phased out? Could give them a new life, improve their capability and save money.
I’m remembering an early 1960s comic series, MAGNUS: ROBOT FIGHTER.
Anything we can design, an enemy can hack.