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The US Air Force’s jet-powered robotic wingman is like something out of a video game
The US Air Force has successfully tested an advanced, jet-powered drone called the XQ58-A Valkyrie, that could someday accompany human-piloted fighter jets on missions. The concept is a bit like something we’ve seen in video games, a drone (or swarm of drones) can fight alongside a human pilot, or absorb enemy fire in their place.
The vehicle was developed as a partnership between the Air Force Research Laboratory and Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems as a relatively cheap platform that can fill a electronic warfare, strike, and surveillance role on the battlefield, controlled by a piloted aircraft on its own or as part of a swarm group. It can carry a small payload of bombs, and can use a conventional runway or can be launched via rocket.
The prototype completed its first test flight (of five planned missions) on March 5th over the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, and the Air Force says that it “behaved as expected” over the course of its 76-minute flight. The battery of test flights that it will go through will look at how well the drone’s systems worked, and how well it takes off, flies and lands.
What’s interesting about this particular plan is that it’s an early demonstration of a concept called “loyal wingman.” While this test saw the drone fly on its own — not alongside the fighter aircraft that it’s designed to accompany in the future — the idea is that it could fly alongside a piloted vehicle, which would control it. From there, it could do everything from provide a bit of extra force projection in the air, fly ahead to scout out terrain, or even taking enemy fire in place of its human-piloted companion.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Scottingham on Monday March 11 2019, @03:05PM (3 children)
What's really interesting is that without the weak meat sack in a cockpit, the jet is capable of flying significantly better/faster. The jets themselves can likely do sustained 15G rolls / climbs.
That would not be fun to experience.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 11 2019, @03:17PM (2 children)
Yes, it does put air warfare on a whole new level. The unmanned jet can target and get to an enemy missile/drone/aircraft much faster than the "command" aircraft with the human in it. So, they go on the attack much faster, but they are also much harder to target. The real dogfight takes place between un-human robots, while the manned craft is left 20, 50 miles, maybe further away from danger. Given a fleet of, let's say 20 of these drone fighters, a single pilot might take out an entire enemy air wing. Even if he's attacked from two different angles, while ground radar is trying to get a lock on him. Everything would depend on how fast his mind can work, and how autonomous the drones are.
Of course, when he meets some situation that defeats his drones, his ass will almost certainly be blown away.
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday March 12 2019, @12:10AM (1 child)
I wonder why flight drones get way more optimistic comments in our little community than the tank https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/03/11/169240 [soylentnews.org]
Do we believe that our tanks might fight us, but our airplanes never will?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Tuesday March 12 2019, @06:16AM
Planes need to regularly land for fuel and ammo. In a post apocalyptic world where we can't shoot them down, they will all fall out of the sky anyway.
Tanks can go rogue, can hide and lie in wait for years, and can go scrounging through urban areas, even coercing civilians into providing supplies.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.