US Air Force Has New Target Drone

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Target drones, also known as UAT (Unmanned Aerial Target), are unmanned vehicles that can be used as bullseye on military trainings and tests thanks to their low cost. The US Air Force has recently awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems with a contract for target drones.

BQM-167A is a sub-scale aerial target system that can be deployed to provide a threat-representative target for the test and evaluation of new air-to-air weapons systems of the USAF and the US Department of Defence (DoD). The aerial target system is also used to provide training for aviators in air-to-air combat environment, according to airforce-technology.com.

The $338 million five-year contract includes BQM-167A Air Force Subscale Aerial Target (AFSAT), out-of-warranty-repairs (OWR), and contractor logistics support (CLS). Work will be performed at a Kratos manufacturing facility.

The contract enables Kratos and the USAF to place even more focus on the ultimate mission, which is high-performance threat representation for training and defensive system development, said the company’s statement.