Posted on 03/08/2019 9:47:37 AM PST by McGruff
Just a week after Boeing unveiled their export-centric 'loyal wingman' combat drone concept, the Air Force Research Lab has announced that their own similar endeavor, dubbed the XQ-58A Valkyrie, has made its first flight. It also posted the very first image of the aircraft that has been developed under a veil of secrecy over the last two and half years.
Beyond finally breaking cover as the USAF's 'attritable' unmanned combat air vehicle concept, the XQ-58A is really the first Air Force UCAV concept we have seen since all the momentum towards fielding any sort of this type of hugely promising aircraft suddenly dematerialized the better part of a decade ago. The XQ-58A very likely represents the low-end on the USAF's shadowy UCAV programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
I like it....
A standoff control center similar to a AWACS but on a 747 platform could control hundreds of these things........................
The wobbly goblin without a pilot
Looks like the old X-15.
When I was a kid in the 60s, I wanted to be an Air Force pilot. My step dad kept telling me that manned fighter planes would soon be obsolete. He was maybe 50 years ahead of his time.
I wonder if the AF will require officers to be the ground pilots of these things.
As I recall(to lazy to look) the F-35 can manage several at one time.
Worst kept secret, really.
Cruise missile mated with a 117A Nighthawk. ;-)
It’s a disposable (”attritable”) low (ahem) cost bomb truck that might make it home after attacking in a high threat environment.
Gosh thass ujjlee
Loyal Wingman better lookin
When will the AF do something useful like deploy this junk to the border to stop the invasion? Instead of sending disloyal “generals” to the Congress to tell us there’s no threat from the open border?
This word secretive ,I don’t think it means what it use to mean.
“Looks like the old X-15.”
That’s exactly what I thought.
I have one
....wouldn’t want one watching me.
But they would be centered on the 747 mothership. It's better to have them distributed where they are needed.
I hope it fares better than their last Valkyrie.
That would be cool.
Had to wonder why they release this info, must be a message to somebody (maybe Russia or China).... The Stealth fighter was flying for over 10 years before they announce it in 1991.
The US government does not release info like this unless we have something better that is already develop.
Ha! Exactly what I was thinking. 
“I wonder if the AF will require officers to be the ground pilots of these things.”
........
You’ll need a Phd in video games maybe.
Ever seen the movie Ender’s Game?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.