Advanced Combat Drone for Unexpected Price

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Upgrades and improvements in technology generate many new opportunities for soldiers out in the battlefield. The aerial realm is regarded as being one of the most complex fields in the military. Fortunately, technology has just created another unmanned option for combat missions.

The XQ-58A Valkyrie constructed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a combat drone that has been under development for years now. The unmanned aircraft was built very strategically; creating usage for a very long-range. The drone is designed to handle combat duties such as strike, surveillance, and electronic warfare support capability.

The stealthy drone, which supposedly has a range of well over 2,000 miles and is capable of carrying a pair of Small Diameter Bombs or electronic warfare and surveillance gear, is also capable of being launched using rocket boosters instead of relying on runways alone, as stated by thedrive.com. The combat drone does not need to use a runway because it can rather be launched from practically any part of the terrain. This plays as a large advantage for the drone and just demonstrates how useful and efficient it will eventually be.

The unmanned aircraft is unusually affordable, making it much more likely for them to be utilized out in battle. If a drone is somehow destroyed or lost out in battle, it would not create too much stress due to how inexpensive they are to produce.

On June 17, the U.S. Air Force announced that the XQ-58A Valkyrie successfully completed all of its test objectives this past week. There are a total of five test flights for the drone to complete. One was previously held in March which demonstrated very similar results. The five test flights are planned in two phases, including evaluating system functionality, aerodynamic performance, and launch and recovery systems, according to international news agencies.