There is a swarm - combat drones of Kratos
A vision of XQ-222 Valkyrie drones dominating the battlefield of the future. Quality and advanced technical solutions have been joined by many …
For years there has been talk of wars of the future, in which aerial swarms will be fought by swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles, controlled from the ground or manned fighter decks, which form the core of their “swarm”, or – for horror – act autonomously. This time is only getting closer. In June, at the Paris Air Show, the concepts of two types of such machines, created by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc., acting on behalf of the US Air Force, were presented. from San Diego, California.
These are by no means only computer "artistic visions" representing the world in a few decades. On July 11, 2016, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc., after beating seven other U.S. companies in a competition, was commissioned to build a low-cost demonstration unmanned aerial system, an LCASD initiative to develop technical solutions that enable low-cost aircraft (Low-Cost Technology). attributed aircraft - LCAAT). The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) was the customer and the company received $7,3 million in government funding for a $40,8 million project (the remaining $33,5 million). from own funds). However, this amount concerned only a preliminary design, designed for 2,5 years of work, which should be completed at the turn of 2018 and 2019. The cost of further work, the result of which is the creation of machines in a complete set for serial production, is estimated today at about another 100 million US dollars, and this time it will be mainly public funds.
assumptions
The result of the LCASD program should be the development of a machine with a high maximum speed, almost reaching the speed of sound, and with a slightly lower cruising speed. At the moment, it is assumed that this is the "ideal winger" of manned fighters, allegedly belonging to the US Air Force. It was assumed that these types of devices would be reusable, but their life cycle should not be long. For this reason, as well as the low cost of production, they can “without regret” be sent on dangerous missions, to which the command would be embarrassed to send a manned fighter. Other assumptions regarding LCASD include: ability to carry at least 250 kg of weapons (in an inner chamber, which meets the requirements of hard-to-detect radars), a range of > 2500 km, the ability to operate independently of airports.
Perhaps most importantly and revolutionary, the new machines will feature an unusually low price tag. This will range from "less than $3 million" for an order of less than 100 copies to "less than $2 million" for multiple orders. This assumption today seems something incredible, given that throughout the development of military aviation to date, the price of aircraft has been systematically growing, reaching exorbitant amounts in the case of supersonic multi-purpose 4th and 5th generations. role fighters. For this reason, today in the world, fewer and fewer countries can afford multi-purpose aircraft that can operate effectively on a modern battlefield. Many of them currently have only a symbolic number of such machines, and even such a power as the United States must reckon with the fact that in the future they will have aircraft that will allow them to control only a allocated part of the airspace in the conflict zone. Meanwhile, the low price of new drones with parameters comparable to jet fighters would completely change these views.
unfavorable trends and to ensure a "sufficient" presence of Americans in all necessary regions, as well as to compensate for the numerical advantage that the cooperating air forces of global rivals (China and the Russian Federation) could have over them.
UTAP-22 Manual
The low cost must be achieved through the use of existing "off-the-shelf" solutions, and this is where the sources of Kratos' potential success should be sought. The company today specializes not only in solutions related to satellite communications, cybersecurity, microwave technologies and missile defense (which, of course, is also an advantage when working on advanced combat UAVs), but also in the development and production of remotely controlled jet air targets that simulate combat enemy aircraft during air defense exercises.
