The U.S. Marine Corps has conducted its first flight of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, an unmanned air vehicle manufactured by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
The flight took place nearly seven months after the Marine Corps received its first two XQ-58A UAVs in March to support platform prototyping and integration efforts for the Penetrating Affordable Autonomous Collaborative Killer – Portfolio program, the service branch said Thursday.
Scott Bey, a prototyping and experimentation portfolio manager at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, said the XQ-58A test flight will help drive future joint innovation and experimentation opportunities.
The Marine Corps is reportedly collaborating with the OUSD(R&E), the Naval Air Systems Command and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division on the ongoing research, development, test and evaluation of the XQ-58A Valkyrie aircraft.
The UAV will undergo six more test flights as part of the PAACK-P program to evaluate its ability to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, determine the potential for AI-enabled platforms to assist combat air patrols and mature manned-unmanned teaming capability objectives.