Kratos wins contract to deliver two XQ-58A Valkyrie UAS to US Navy.

According to information published by the US DoD on January 4, 2023, Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems is awarded a $15,515,343 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to procure and deliver a quantity of two XQ-58A unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
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XQ-58A Valkyrie Unmanned Aerial System. (Picture source: Kratos)

Work will be performed in Sacramento, California, and is expected to be completed in September 2023. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,515,343 will be obligated at the time of award, $15,515,343 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 4023. The Naval Air Warfare Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0042123C0010).

About the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie

The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie is an experimental stealthy unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed and built by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions for the United States Air Force Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) program, under the USAF Research Laboratory’s Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology (LCAAT) project portfolio. It was initially designated the XQ-222. The Valkyrie successfully completed its first flight on 5 March 2019 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

 The XQ-58 is designed to act as a "loyal wingman" that is controlled by a parent aircraft to accomplish tasks such as scouting, defensive fire, or absorbing enemy fire if attacked.

It features stealth technology with a trapezoidal fuselage with a chined edge, V-tail, and an S-shaped air intake. The XQ-58 is capable of being deployed as part of a swarm of drones, with or without direct pilot control.

Though the XQ-58 is capable of conventional take-offs and landings, it can also be launched from "nondescript launch modules", such as support ships, shipping containers, and semi-trailer trucks. Kratos could produce between 250-500 Valkyries per year.