Military.com reports that the US Air Force announced Wednesday that it “flew an artificial intelligence system onboard a subsonic autonomous drone for the first time last month.” According to an Air Force news release, the “Skyborg autonomy core system, or ACS, was loaded into a Kratos UTAP-22 ‘Mako’ drone for a 130-minute flight test at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, on April 29.” According to the release, the “Skyborg ACS conducted a basic flight and ‘responded to navigational commands while reacting to geo-fences, adhering to aircraft flight envelopes and demonstrating coordinated maneuvering.’”
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Tag: Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie
General Atomics, Kratos Awarded Skyborg Contracts
Inside Defense reports that on Monday, the US Air Force announced that it has awarded “contracts to Kratos and General Atomics to continue development and experimentation on the Skyborg program.” Kratos’ contract is worth up to $13.2 million for its XQ-58A, and General Atomics’ contract is worth as much as $7 million for its MQ-20. In a press release, the USAF said, “These efforts will advance the integration of the Autonomous Core System along with continued operational experimentation through fiscal year 2022.” The USAF continued, “The vehicles will demonstrate future warfighting capabilities through the teaming of manned and unmanned platforms at large-force test events.”
Full Story (Inside Defense