On March 26, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) named Valkyrie opened the door of the weapon compartment. It then dropped below not a bomb but another smaller drone. This small plane is like a scout sent on other more complex missions that a large plane cannot do.
This successful test has opened up the idea of future drones that could carry many small drones for combat.
The Valkyrie XQ-58A with a length of 8.5 meters and a wingspan of 6.7 meters is on a sixth test flight at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Valkyrie has been flying over the Sonoran Desert near Yuma Stadium since 2019.
More than just a regular drone, the Valkyrie can also drop another smaller aircraft from the armory, the ALTIUS-600.
The Valkyrie is part of the Pentagon's effort to find a drone with enhanced combat and support capabilities for the fighter. The cost to build the Valkyrie is about $2 million, relatively cheap compared to investing and building combat machines such as the F-35A stealth aircraft.
Meanwhile, the ALTIUS is like a miniature Predator drone, with an upside down V-shaped tail on the fuselage approximately 1 meter long. Its wings are about 1.2 meters long in the fuselage that will open when dropped, making it easier to launch from the cannon, eject from the helicopter or out from the bomb bay. Like the Predator, the ALTIUS has both a propeller and a rotating camera.
During flight, the ALTIUS travels at 111km / h, although it is capable of rushing up to 160km / h. With the above cruising speed, it could fly more than 4 hours and the flight range was up to 444km. That is the distance traveled between the city of Boston and Philadelphia. The ALTIUS is a reconnaissance drone but its nose camera is interchangeable and interchangeable, consisting of electronic warfare (jamming) and dynamics (explosives), turning the reconnaissance machine. This becomes a weapon, ready to neutralize or destroy anything it points to.
Area-I, the company that makes ALTIUS and AI for UAVs, allows one person to fly multiple UAVs. In the past, the control system allowed one person on a helicopter to fly four ALTIUS drones at the same time. This way saves money and time more than the remote control.
During flight, the ALTIUS travels at 111km / h, although it is capable of rushing up to 160km / h. With the above cruising speed, it could fly more than 4 hours and the flight range was up to 444km. That is the distance traveled between the city of Boston and Philadelphia. The ALTIUS is a reconnaissance drone but its nose camera is interchangeable and interchangeable, consisting of electronic warfare (jamming) and dynamics (explosives), turning the reconnaissance machine. This becomes a weapon, ready to neutralize or destroy anything it points to.
Area-I, the company that makes ALTIUS and AI for UAVs, allows one person to fly multiple UAVs. In the past, the control system allowed one person on a helicopter to fly four ALTIUS drones at the same time. This way saves money and time more than the remote control.
With the Valkyries capable of launching ALTIUS, the US Air Force can plan and increase the number of UAVs for each mission. They can fight over vast expanses of air, hunt for aircraft or targets on the ground, and support both unmanned and manned aircraft.
Kratos, the manufacturer of Valkyrie proudly in 2018, said that the UAV will have a maximum range of more than 5.5 thousand km, although it is currently estimated that it is only about 1.85 thousand km. So if it can launch an additional pair of ALTIUS reconnaissance aircraft, the scope of observation and targeting could be expanded. It will also allow for force concentration, guidance for precision weapons or clearing the way for other attacks.
To ensure the drone could survive in the future, both Valkyrie and ALTIUS could swap part of the airframe with new parts. Thanks to the modular mechanism, as long as the airframe is in effect, manufacturers can add sensors, lift payloads, and replace other hardware.
The Valkyrie is also an important part of the US military's Skyborg drone program and paves the way for new inventions in the future.
In order to successfully launch ALTIUS from Valkyrie, the Air Force Research Laboratory and drone manufacturers have created a special vehicle and custom code to connect and synchronize them.
Deploying UAVs capable of launching other smaller UAVs was something military scientists had long expected. Only we will have to wait and see, it will soon be applied in real combat and effectively support the army in airstrike operations.
In the future it will be interesting to see combat UAVs that can carry a smaller army of UAVs for large battles or attack multiple targets. At that time, people will only be present when absolutely necessary.
This successful test has opened up the idea of future drones that could carry many small drones for combat.
The Valkyrie XQ-58A with a length of 8.5 meters and a wingspan of 6.7 meters is on a sixth test flight at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Valkyrie has been flying over the Sonoran Desert near Yuma Stadium since 2019.
More than just a regular drone, the Valkyrie can also drop another smaller aircraft from the armory, the ALTIUS-600.
The Valkyrie is part of the Pentagon's effort to find a drone with enhanced combat and support capabilities for the fighter. The cost to build the Valkyrie is about $2 million, relatively cheap compared to investing and building combat machines such as the F-35A stealth aircraft.
Meanwhile, the ALTIUS is like a miniature Predator drone, with an upside down V-shaped tail on the fuselage approximately 1 meter long. Its wings are about 1.2 meters long in the fuselage that will open when dropped, making it easier to launch from the cannon, eject from the helicopter or out from the bomb bay. Like the Predator, the ALTIUS has both a propeller and a rotating camera.
During flight, the ALTIUS travels at 111km / h, although it is capable of rushing up to 160km / h. With the above cruising speed, it could fly more than 4 hours and the flight range was up to 444km. That is the distance traveled between the city of Boston and Philadelphia. The ALTIUS is a reconnaissance drone but its nose camera is interchangeable and interchangeable, consisting of electronic warfare (jamming) and dynamics (explosives), turning the reconnaissance machine. This becomes a weapon, ready to neutralize or destroy anything it points to.
Area-I, the company that makes ALTIUS and AI for UAVs, allows one person to fly multiple UAVs. In the past, the control system allowed one person on a helicopter to fly four ALTIUS drones at the same time. This way saves money and time more than the remote control.
During flight, the ALTIUS travels at 111km / h, although it is capable of rushing up to 160km / h. With the above cruising speed, it could fly more than 4 hours and the flight range was up to 444km. That is the distance traveled between the city of Boston and Philadelphia. The ALTIUS is a reconnaissance drone but its nose camera is interchangeable and interchangeable, consisting of electronic warfare (jamming) and dynamics (explosives), turning the reconnaissance machine. This becomes a weapon, ready to neutralize or destroy anything it points to.
Area-I, the company that makes ALTIUS and AI for UAVs, allows one person to fly multiple UAVs. In the past, the control system allowed one person on a helicopter to fly four ALTIUS drones at the same time. This way saves money and time more than the remote control.
With the Valkyries capable of launching ALTIUS, the US Air Force can plan and increase the number of UAVs for each mission. They can fight over vast expanses of air, hunt for aircraft or targets on the ground, and support both unmanned and manned aircraft.
Kratos, the manufacturer of Valkyrie proudly in 2018, said that the UAV will have a maximum range of more than 5.5 thousand km, although it is currently estimated that it is only about 1.85 thousand km. So if it can launch an additional pair of ALTIUS reconnaissance aircraft, the scope of observation and targeting could be expanded. It will also allow for force concentration, guidance for precision weapons or clearing the way for other attacks.
To ensure the drone could survive in the future, both Valkyrie and ALTIUS could swap part of the airframe with new parts. Thanks to the modular mechanism, as long as the airframe is in effect, manufacturers can add sensors, lift payloads, and replace other hardware.
The Valkyrie is also an important part of the US military's Skyborg drone program and paves the way for new inventions in the future.
In order to successfully launch ALTIUS from Valkyrie, the Air Force Research Laboratory and drone manufacturers have created a special vehicle and custom code to connect and synchronize them.
Deploying UAVs capable of launching other smaller UAVs was something military scientists had long expected. Only we will have to wait and see, it will soon be applied in real combat and effectively support the army in airstrike operations.
In the future it will be interesting to see combat UAVs that can carry a smaller army of UAVs for large battles or attack multiple targets. At that time, people will only be present when absolutely necessary.