General Atomics presented its version of the strike drone

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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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  1. -2
    16 September 2020 13: 28
    If there will be a flying wing UAV instead of the MQ-9, this is good news. But unfortunately, the likelihood of such stupidity in the United States is too small.
    Rather, there will be a competition for new drummers, not to replace the MQ-9, but simply new ones. Instead of 9, you need a jet drone, according to the normal scheme, massive, cheap to buy and operate.
    1. +1
      16 September 2020 13: 34
      Quote: Grazdanin
      If there will be a flying wing UAV instead of the MQ-9, this is good news. But unfortunately, the likelihood of such stupidity in the United States is too small.
      Rather, there will be a competition for new drummers, not to replace the MQ-9, but simply new ones. Instead of 9, you need a jet drone, according to the normal scheme, massive, cheap to buy and operate.

      Flying wings can also be made massive and relatively cheap, and the advantage is the ability to remove all weapons inside.
      1. +2
        16 September 2020 13: 41
        Quote: oleg83
        plus is the ability to remove all weapons inside.

        In a normal glider, the armament can be removed inside without problems. Only on it can be hung on external suspensions, with the flying wing scheme this cannot be done. The "wing" has larger dimensions, the price of the airframe and avionics is more expensive, poor stability.
        For a mass aircraft, the disadvantages are critical. On the contrary, there are more advantages for a scout and a distant "striker".
        It looks more like a replacement and expansion of the RQ-170's capabilities. That is logical for 15-20 years already the project needs to be changed.
    2. +4
      16 September 2020 13: 43
      Quote: Grazdanin
      If there will be a flying wing UAV instead of the MQ-9, this is good news. But unfortunately, the likelihood of such stupidity in the United States is too small.
      Rather, there will be a competition for new drummers, not to replace the MQ-9, but simply new ones. Instead of 9, you need a jet drone, according to the normal scheme, massive, cheap to buy and operate.

      What's wrong with an attack drone flying at a speed of 800-1000 km / h, built according to the flying wing scheme? What is the problem here at all?
      The circuit works - proven B-2.
      A Reaper-type drone is a purely police device.
      1. 0
        16 September 2020 13: 50
        Quote: Cyril G ...
        What is the problem here at all?

        Not with anything. Take a ready-made solution and make a compact one with AI, if only TNW could carry.
        For everything else and a "policeman", a classic scheme from a 3D printer or a quadric with Ali will do.
      2. +3
        16 September 2020 13: 51
        Depends on the goal. If we are talking about replacing the MQ-9, then we need a massive and relatively cheap UAV that can work in any conditions. This is clearly not a "flying wing".
        Flying wing for long-range reconnaissance and covert strikes, for example, against air defense or nuclear targets. It is necessary to change and expand the capabilities of the RQ-170. The authors of the news have mixed everything.
    3. 0
      16 September 2020 21: 16
      Today there is a sensational news worse than the MQ-9.
      As Popular Mechanics reported:
      "The US Air Force secretly designed, built and tested a new fighter"
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/air-force-secretly-designed-built-130400768.html
      “The US Air Force has announced that it has already launched a new prototype fighter.
      We know practically nothing about the new plane ... except that it exists. Most observers did not expect a new fighter jet for another ten years.
      This week, the US Air Force announced that it had covertly designed, built and tested a new prototype fighter. The fighter, about which we practically do not know anything, has already flown and "broke records." Now the Air Force has to think about how they will buy the new fighter, as they struggle to acquire everything from ICBMs to bombers.
      The Air Force has built a new fighter under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which aims to create an aircraft that will complement and possibly even replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
      The Air Force built 186 Raptors, of which only 123 are capable of performing the full range of combat missions. And at the current level of readiness, only about 64 fifth-generation fighters are ready for battle at any moment.
      According to Defense News, the Air Force developed the new fighter in about a year - an astonishingly short timeframe by modern standards. The Air Force first developed a virtual version of the jet and then proceeded to build and pilot a full-size prototype complete with mission systems. This is in stark contrast to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This means it took the Air Force only one year to finalize the NGAD fighter, which they achieved in 10 years with the F-35. This appears to be the "record" that the Air Force claims has set a new aircraft, and this is probably true.
      We do not know what it looks like, what it is called, how fast it flies, how maneuverable and what special capabilities it has. We don't know anything about him "
      1. 0
        16 September 2020 21: 19
        Revolution in R&D. here this news has already been.
        1. 0
          16 September 2020 21: 27
          Actually, we got this news yesterday. I wonder from what sources VO learned this news earlier ...
          1. 0
            16 September 2020 21: 29
            I read yesterday on Thedrive. They too.
            1. 0
              16 September 2020 21: 30
              Thank...!
              1. 0
                16 September 2020 21: 31
                Original Source: https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2020/09/15/the-us-air-force-has-built-and-flown-a-mysterious-full-scale-prototype-of- its-future-fighter-jet /
                1. 0
                  16 September 2020 21: 35
                  So I read it, but I missed the information in VO about it ...
  2. -11
    16 September 2020 13: 35
    Another copy of the S-70 Hunter? Here - thin avionics, a "flying wing" scheme, these are not funny robots in Boston Dynamics to do!
  3. -2
    16 September 2020 13: 48
    And the United States will live to 2030 ??? I strongly doubt it ....
    1. -1
      16 September 2020 14: 00
      And what will they be?
      "He's a monument!"
    2. -4
      16 September 2020 14: 07
      He will live, only it will not be the same USA. At best, like Ukraine is now.
      1. +2
        16 September 2020 14: 10
        Do you have any secret knowledge? Share pzhl
        1. 0
          16 September 2020 14: 18
          Quote: GRIGORIY76
          Do you have any secret knowledge? Share pzhl

          Apparently the Yellowstone volcano. smile
          After all, it will explode whenever.
          At any moment ... in the current millennium, almost certainly.
        2. +1
          16 September 2020 15: 06
          Very simple. Everything has its beginning and end. The United States will also end. The territory will of course remain, which means that something will happen on it. What is happening there seems to lead to the early completion of this circle of development. Nothing is eternal, is it not known? And maybe the volcano is banging, but this is no longer for me.
          1. 0
            16 September 2020 15: 31
            The question is about the forecast in terms of the decay time period of 30 years.
            The states have had powerful crises and shocks, no smaller than they are now.
            However, we survived.
            This circle of development can rather be associated with a soap bubble, which is a phenomenon called "financial economy".
            A phenomenon that has little to do with the real economy.
            It is this phenomenon that should eventually become a thing of the past.
            However, even the time period in which this will happen is difficult to determine in tens of years.
            Maybe 20, maybe 30, maybe all 50 years.
            1. +1
              16 September 2020 15: 49
              It can be theoretically explained, but it will take some serious work to write. Do I need it? And you? You can't fill the air with words.
              1. +1
                16 September 2020 15: 56
                My message is that you should not set a specific time frame for the upcoming event.
                I believe that it is theoretically possible to substantiate the event in question.
                However, it is almost impossible to establish a time period.
                Therefore, we breathe, live, work and contemplate the progressively realizing future.
                1. 0
                  17 September 2020 08: 07
                  I did not think to answer, but an article came across: the United States is on the verge of a civil war
                  More details at https://aurora.network/articles/156-vybory/83828-ssha-na-grani-grazhdanskoy-voyny
    3. 0
      16 September 2020 20: 11
      Do not hesitate as long as he will survive, they are doing well with strategic planning, unlike us
  4. +1
    16 September 2020 15: 21
    Quote: betta
    The United States will also end. The territory will of course remain, which means that something will happen on it. What is happening there seems to lead to the early completion of this circle of development.
    It looks like it. We have already reached the point of rejection by the majority of citizens of the decision of the ruling class, which, apparently, has reached an extreme degree of insanity in relation to its population. But we can only look at this theater of the absurd and wonder what will happen next? Maybe the authorities will soon oblige to give birth to men who have entered into a same-sex marriage? request
    1. 0
      16 September 2020 20: 16
      The same can be said about Belarusians

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