This article discusses the XQ-67A, a new #unmannedaerialvehicle (#UAV) developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the United States Air Force Air Force Research Laboratory. Here are the key points: 1. The XQ-67A made its maiden flight on February 28, 2024, at General Atomics' facility near #Palmdale, California. 2. The first air-to-air video footage of the XQ-67A was released on June 26, 2024. 3. It's part of the Air Force's Off-Board Sensing Station (#OBSS) program, designed to act as an attritable forward #radar node. 4. The XQ-67A features side-looking radars on both sides of the fuselage. 5. It's remotely piloted but capable of #autonomous flight. 6. The aircraft was designed, built, ground-tested, and flown in just over two years. 7. It's based on a "genus" approach, sharing design principles with the XQ-58A Valkyrie, which allows for modular additions like sensing or weapon stations. 8. The XQ-67A is part of a broader shift towards a distributed combination of manned and unmanned aircraft in the USAF. 9. Future variants may focus on other roles such as weapons delivery and electronic warfare. 10. The program aims to augment, not replace, manned aircraft. The article emphasizes the rapid development of this technology and its potential to change air combat operations in the future.
The government may do everything slowly in its own valley of death… Most profit driven companies won’t waste time or money.
System Safety Analysis Contributes to Successful Performance of Complex Systems
5moThis aspect is amazing to me given the many cost/schedule failures of other complex systems: “The aircraft was designed, built, ground-tested, and flown in just over two years.”