The first operational flight of one of the US Marine Corps’ new XQ-58A Valkyrie aircraft.

Deepen the integration of new unmanned systems, The US Marine Corps (USMC) has confirmed the maiden flight of its new XQ-58A Valkyrie autonomous drone.. Although this system is already being tested by the US Air Force, it has recently been incorporated by the Marine Corps in the search for new, more financially and economically efficient drones.

After what the Marines officially revealed. The first operational flight of the force’s shooting ranger. In this case, the F-16 as seen in the photos and videos released. Based on what was stated, the goal of this first flight was to collect new data and verify the unmanned aircraft systems, highlighting that “The aircraft performed as expected“, without providing further details.

The integration of the new XQ-58A Valkyrie, which is still experimental, is recent for the Marine Corps, Since the integration of the first two drones last March. This is happening as the US Air Force records new flights that further improve the design, including incorporating artificial intelligence functions and elements in order to expand the autonomous flight capabilities of the drone.

However, the start of the test flight of the XQ-58A by the Marine Corps also responds to the budget requirements of the Pentagon, which seeks to deploy a greater number of UAVs of different types, but more financially efficient. For comparison, as Kratos reported, the Valkyrie costs US$6.5 million, while the current MQ-9 Reaper drone, intended for intelligence, surveillance, surveillance and attack missions, costs US$38 million.

This research is also included in the plan Design Power 2030, Which seeks to prepare US Marines to confront a technologically advanced and militarily capable adversary in a high-intensity, multi-domain conflict in the next decade..

About Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie:

Low-Cost Kratos Program of the US Air Force Research Laboratory.

Initially designated as XQ-222, Valkyrie successfully completed its maiden flight on March 5, 2019 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. On March 26, 2021, he reached 12 kg.

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