The Skyborg project is a
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
Vanguard program developing
unmanned combat aerial vehicle
An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...
s intended to accompany a manned fighter aircraft. , contracts have been awarded to
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
,
General Atomics
General Atomics is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, specializing in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion energy. The ...
,
Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems and
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
.
Development
On September 29, 2020, the US Air Force contracted nine corporations (AeroVironment, Autonodyne LLC, BAE Systems, Blue Force Technologies, Fregata Systems LLC, Lockheed Martin, NextGen Aeronautic, Sierra Technical Services, and Wichita State University) to work on Skyborg prototyping and experimentation. On December 21, 2020, Voly Defense Solutions LLC of Concord, California, was added to the contract.
See also
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Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat
The Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, previously known as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (ATS) and the Loyal Wingman project, is a stealth, multirole, unmanned aerial vehicle in development by Boeing Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force (RA ...
, formerly the Boeing Airpower Teaming System
*
Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie
The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie is an experimental stealthy unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed and built by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions for the United States Air Force Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) program, under ...
*
X-62A VISTA, formerly the NF-16D VISTA
References
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Drone warfare