The US Air Force wants to create a fleet of autonomous combat drones

The U.S. Air Force has two types of 5th generation fighters in service: the F-22 (about 100) and F-35 (more than 540) at a cost of $143 million and $75 million each, respectively. However, in response to China’s forced weapons development program, the Pentagon has requested an additional $6 billion to build a “fleet” of XQ-58A Valkyrie combat drones at $3 million each.

The drone’s developer is Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. The drone is 9.1 meters long and weighs 1,134 kg. It can carry up to 545 kg of payload. The Valkyrie is a multifunctional drone, but it is mainly designed for covert escort and support of the F-22 and F-35.

During tests at Elgin Air Force Base in August, the XQ-58A flew for three hours under AI control, after which the US Air Force Command said that despite this apparent achievement, UAVs should be under the control of operators.

As a Pentagon spokesman told the NYT, “any Air Force drone is designed so that commanders and operators have the ability to control it in the event of combat use.”

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