Shield AI’s X-BAT drone to be powered by same GE engine as F-15, F-16 fighters (Exclusive)
The announcement marks the first official partnership for GE on a drone wingman platform.
Eyeing international sales, General Atomics moves to build drone wingmen in Europe
The company plans to tap its German-based affiliate General Atomics Aerotec Systems GmbH to produce and customize drone wingmen for European customers.
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Airbus, Kratos team to pitch German Air Force drone wingmen
An Airbus spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the partnership, featuring Kratos’s XQ-58A Valkyrie paired with Airbus-provided mission systems, is “offer[ing] our German customer something we believe they have a requirement for in the coming years.”
GE, Kratos broaden engine partnership, targeting ‘lower end’ CCA
The duo's new GEK1500 engine is set to offer 1,500 pounds of thrust and is expected to be demonstrated next year.
Rafael, Kratos team to produce solid rocket motors as Prometheus Energetics
The two firms become the latest entrant in the solid rocket motor business, which has boomed since the war in Ukraine began.
Kratos wins firm’s largest-ever $1.5 billion award for DoD hypersonic testbed
Kratos will be tasked with “systems engineering, integration, and testing (SEIT), to include integrated subscale, full-scale, and air launch services to address the need to affordably increase hypersonic flight test cadence,” according to the company.
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Honeywell targets unmanned market as interest in drone wingmen grows
“There a lot of unmanned systems, that’s where we're seeing a lot of growth,” said Honeywell Aerospace’s Matt Milas. “So we’re definitely moving in the direction of unmanned solutions for defense applications.”
GE and Kratos unveil new engine ‘family,’ aimed at cruise missiles, CCA
However, a Kratos spokesperson said the company is still open to pursuing CCA tranche 2 as a prime, which would seemingly necessitate an internal firewall with the engine "merchant supplier" effort.
Take 2: Kratos aims for prime status on second CCA ‘increment’
“So there's a sweet spot for where we can prime it and there's a stretch area. ... What I hope is you see the sweet spot increases and the stretch area is moving to higher” program sizes and complexities, Kratos’s Steve Fendley told Breaking Defense.
Air Force eyes thrust range targets for wingman drones, wants engine development to start in FY25
A new request for information released by the Air Force shows that future Collaborative Combat Aircraft engines could provide considerable capability, according to an expert, but could also face drawbacks in cost and operations.
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New ‘Watch Center’ to ring alarms on space-related cyber threats
"Space is a warfighting domain and cyber is a critical area to focus on to ensure space security. I think we all know cyber attacks are becoming more frequent. They're more severe, they're even more sophisticated," Sreenidhi Tummala, a senior software engineer at Lockheed Martin, told reporters at today's Space-ISAC press conference.
General Atomics’ Gambit moves to flight testing under AFRL’s autonomous drone project
AFRL is "projecting first flight in first half of FY24 [fiscal 2024]," Trenton White, OBSS program manager, told Breaking Defense.
DIU asks industry for help getting hypersonic test jet closer to lift off
DIU is now seeking commercial materials and systems, such as for propulsion and alternative navigation, to test on its planned hypersonic test jet.
Marine Corps buying Valkyrie drones to investigate ‘future autonomous platforms’
Steve Fendley, president of Kratos' unmanned systems division, told Breaking Defense he thinks the adaptability of the Valkyrie for different mission sets has the Air Force, and now the Marines, interested in the platform.