Navy orders subsonic target drones from Kratos to help ships and planes practice against anti-ship missiles
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – High-performance target drones experts at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. will build another 65 full-rate-production subsonic unmanned aerial targets designed to help Navy aircraft and surface warship crews learn to defeat enemy cruise missiles.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $59.3 million order last week to the Kratos Unmanned Systems segment in Sacramento, Calif., for 65 lot-6 BQM-177A surface-launched aerial targets.
Subsonic target drones
The BQM-177A is the Navy’s next-generation subsonic unmanned aerial target (SSAT), which is designed to mimic the behaviors and radar cross sections of dynamic, high-subsonic, sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles to help naval personnel practice air-to-air engagements.
The contract includes 65 rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) attachment kits, three replacement in kind BQM-177A targets, and three attachment kits for the Navy; and two BQM-177A targets and two attachment kits for South Korea.
The BQM-177A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program will meet the U.S. Navy's requirements for a high fidelity target to mimic subsonic cruise missiles in fleet training and weapons testing.
Capable of speeds in excess of 0.95 Mach and a sea-skimming altitude as low as 10 feet above the surface of the water, the BQM-177A carries internal and external sensor payloads including proximity scoring, identification friend or foe (IFF), passive and active RF augmentation, electronic countermeasures, infrared plume pods, chaff and flare dispensers, and towed targets.
Reduced transonic drag
The BQM-177A is based on the Kratos BQM-167X aircraft, a derivative of the U.S. Air Force BQM-167A Skeeter target. The BQM-177A introduces a new fuselage with area ruling, high-mounted wings, and an internally integrated MicroTurbo TR-60-5+ turbo jet engine for reduced transonic drag.
The BQM-177A will augment and later replace existing BQM-74E aerial targets, and will deliver longer range, lower cruise altitudes, and greater maneuverability than previous-generation target drones.
The BQM-177A is 17 feet long, has a 7 -foot wingspan, and weighs 620 pounds with fuel or payloads. It can fly at altitudes as low as 6.6 feet above the ground or water, and as high as 40,000 feet above sea level.
On this order Kratos will do the work Sacramento, Santa Ana, Concord, and Chatsworth, Calif.; Dallas; Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Blacksburg, Va.; Newton, Kan.; Milwaukie, Ore.; and other U.S. locations, and should be finished by July 2027. For more information contact Kratos Unmanned Systems online at www.kratosdefense.com/systems-and-platforms/unmanned-systems/aerial/aerial-targets, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
