XQ-58 Valkyrie strike drone will receive AI support and will be able to operate in the absence of GPS signal
Shield AI will be able to integrate its own artificial intelligence system into the XQ-58 Valkyrie unmanned aerial vehicle. The company signed an agreement with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions.
Ryan Tseng, CEO and co-founder of Shield AI, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are losing 10,000 drones every month due to the effective work of Russian electronic warfare. The company decided to learn from Ukraine’s experience and came up with a way to rid American drones of this problem.
Shield AI is used in the modified F-16 VISTA fighter jet and the V-BAT drone. The company has now developed a system for the XQ-58 Valkyrie strike drone, which is likely to work in conjunction with fifth- and sixth-generation American fighters in the future, but that’s another story.
Brandon Tseng believes that Valkyrie is the best drone for integrating artificial intelligence. AI will allow the drone to operate in the absence of communication and GPS signal. Kratos CEO Eric Demarco believes that the joint work of the two companies will allow to quickly bring the best aircraft for command and control operations to the market.
It is worth noting that Kratos has recently updated its drone and announced the price of the new modification. Last month, Eric Demarco said that the price of a single drone is $6.5 million in small-scale production. Earlier, the company said that the cost would be less than $2 million, provided that 100 drones are produced per year.
Also last month, the Marine Corps armed itself with Valkyrie unmanned aerial vehicles. The service will use them together with F-35B and F-35C Lightning II aircraft as an electronic warfare platform.
