The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie drone manufactured in Oklahoma City successfully launched an even smaller unmanned aircraft from inside its internal weapons bay on March 26, the U.S. Air Force announced Monday.
The launch came during the Valkyrie’s sixth flight test at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The drone opened its payload bay doors during flight for the first time and released an ALTIUS-600, a small, tube-launched autonomous drone according to Defense News.
Kratos opened its Oklahoma City manufacturing plant in 2018 in the Will Rogers Business Park and last year announced production of the Valkyrie XQ-58A, a drone that could be used as a communications node for the F-35 and F-22 fighter jets. The addition of the Valkyrie XQ-58A also resulted in a 50% increase in the plant’s size.
Last year, Kratos announced it had secured a contract worth nearly $38 million to provide the Valkyrie aircraft to the Air Force as part of the Skyborg program.
Click here for Defense News article.