Boeing, General Atomics, and Kratos to develop unmanned aircraft to demonstrate teaming with piloted planes
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio – The U.S. Air Force has awarded contracts to three companies to produce missionized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) prototypes with the ability to fly in experimentation events while teaming with manned aircraft. The U.S. Air Force reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
14 Dec. 2020 -- The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, awarded contracts to The Boeing Co. for $25.7 million; General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. for $14.3 million; and Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc. for $37.8 million.
The aim of the Skyborg Vanguard program is to integrate autonomous attritable UAV technology with open missions systems to enable manned-unmanned teaming. Skyborg will provide the foundation on which the Air Force can build an airborne autonomous system that adapts, orients, and decides at machine speed for increasingly complex mission sets.
Initial Skyborg aircraft prototypes are to be delivered by next May for flight testing, which will begin the following July. These vehicles will test the Skyborg Autonomous Core System and help demonstrate autonomous attritable aircraft.
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
