Eglin Air Force base last month acquired the first
of two stealthy XQ-58A Valkyrie drones, opening the door for a new level of
autonomous aircraft testing to installation.
The XQ-58A Valkyrie is a 30-foot-long, rail-launched
drone produced by the California-based drone maker Kratos Defense. It’s
designed with a maximum launch weight of 6,000 pounds, can fly at altitudes up
to 45,000 feet above sea level, and has a maximum range of about 3,000 miles.
Valkyrie’s ability to operate with certain levels of autonomy is supported by
its onboard computer system, which allows the aircraft to determine the optimal
flight path and corresponding throttle settings based on commands given by a
ground control station or airborne fighter.
Valkyrie has provided the Air Force with a wealth of
valuable testing information in various experimental environments in recent
years. In 2020, the drone served as a datalink between an F-22 and an F-35.
Kratos is also expected to offer a modified version of Valkyrie for the Air
Force's Skyborg initiative, which seeks to integrate artificial intelligence
(AI)-powered autonomy into uncrewed combat vehicles.
The XQ-58A
Valkyrie demonstrates the separation of the ALTIUS-600 small unmanned aircraft
system in a test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground test range, Ariz., March
26, 2021.
Leading the testing effort at Eglin will be the
Autonomous Aircraft Experimentation (AAx) team, which is focused on evaluating
autonomy systems for uncrewed aircraft, in partnership with the Air Force
Research Laboratory (AFRL)
Eglin is known to be among the Air Force bases that
are at the forefront of capability development and evaluation. The Air Force,
as well as the Navy and Marines, are increasingly faced with the need for more
airspace to conduct tests and training for a variety of reasons, and Eglin’s
unique geographical disposition can help provide just that.
The Air Force’s desire to maintain the momentum of
Valkyrie’s maturation could very well be related to the service’s larger but
classified Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, which Air Force
Secretary Frank Kendall in September revealed could begin in Fiscal Year 2024.
The CCA effort is broadly aimed at producing autonomous drones that could
operate alongside and network with fifth-generation aircraft like the F-35,
F-22, and the future Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) system.
The simulation environment would even extend to
support the fact that much of Valkyrie’s overarching design is centered around
maintaining the program’s affordability. This ambition is also commonly
referred to as attritability and is a defining aspect of the AFRL’s Low-Cost
Attritable Aircraft Technology (LCAAT) program, of which Valkyrie is an
important piece.
Valkyrie flight test efforts on delivering autonomy
software capable of accomplishing operator-defined missions. Allowing the Air
Force to experiment with not only just Valkyrie but other CCA possibilities and
the autonomy engines that could power them will be critical to the overall
success of the 6th generation fighter effort, into which initiatives
like Skyborg, CCA, and LCAAT will feed.
Eglin is wasting no time getting its new Valkyrie in
a testing environment as the Air Force reported. In the press release, Nygard
revealed that the ultimate goal is to begin leveraging Valkyrie for
experimentation with “crewed-uncrewed teaming display solutions” by 2023.
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