MOSCOW – The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone intended to become the US Air Force’s“loyal wingman” for F-22 and F-35 pilots was damaged in its most recentflight earlier this week.
It was just the third time the 28-foot-long Valkyrie unmanned aerialvehicle took to the skies, but “high surface winds” at the test range inYuma, Arizona, caused some damage to the aircraft, including “a malfunctionof the vehicle’s provisional flight test recovery system [that] resulted ina mishap after landing which damaged the aircraft,” according to an AirForce statementlinkThursday,Sputnik has reported.
No estimate was given for how long the repairs will take or when the fourthflight will be.
“We continue to learn about this aircraft and the potential the technologycan offer to the warfighter,” Maj. Gen. William Cooley, commander of theAir Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio,said in the statement. “This third flight successfully completed itsobjectives and expanded the envelope from the first two flights.
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We have gathered a great deal of valuable data from the flight and willeven learn from this mishap. Ultimately, that is the objective of anyexperiment, and we’re pleased with the progress of the Low Cost AttritableStrike Demonstration program.”
