General Atomics presented its version of the strike drone
Following Northrop Grumman on creating his own version of the drum drone General Atomics said. According to NPlus1, citing Defense World, the drone being developed should replace the MQ-9 Reaper UAV in the future.
The American company General Atomics intends to take part in a US Air Force tender to create a new attack drone, an announcement about which is being prepared shortly. As part of the tender, the military wants to get a new drone, which will significantly exceed the ones available today.
General Atomics suggests that the drone developed by the company will be put into service after 2030, when they begin to decommission the MQ-9. It will be created according to the "flying wing" scheme, and its flight duration will exceed all drones in service with the US Air Force. From other characteristics, it is known that the device must receive an artificial intelligence system that will fully control its flight, including automatic takeoff, landing and taxiing over the airfield. Also, the drone must receive a system capable of independently detecting, classifying and identifying ground targets, transmitting information about them to the operator. There is no other data on the new drone yet.
Earlier, Northrop Grumman announced the development of its own strike drone based on the X-47B UCAS-D carrier-based vehicle. The declared characteristics of the new shock drone largely identical to the drone from General Atomics. Both here and there, a "flying wing" scheme is assumed, a long flight duration and the use of artificial intelligence to facilitate the work of UAV operators.
- General atomics
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