XQ-58 Valkyrie
The XQ-58 Valkyrie is an attritable, stealthy uncrewed combat aerial vehicle and collaborative combat aircraft demonstrator designed by Kratos, now set to become the US Marine Corps' first operational loyal wingman, with a target fielding date of summer 2029.
An attritable, stealthy uncrewed combat aerial vehicle — designed by Kratos and integrated by Northrop Grumman — that bridges the gap between experimental loyal-wingman demonstrator and the US Marine Corps’ first operational collaborative combat aircraft, with a target fielding date of summer 2029.
Overview
The XQ-58 Valkyrie is a runway-optional, attritable uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) that originated as a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) low-cost attritable strike demonstrator and has since migrated into a US Marine Corps program of record. A single Williams FJ33 turbofan and a modular payload bay support electronic attack, strike, ISR, and launched-effects missions. Priced by its manufacturer at around $4 million per airframe at moderate production rates, the design trades payload depth against a low unit cost that is intended to make battlefield loss economically acceptable. In January 2026 the Marine Corps formally selected the Northrop Grumman/Kratos team for the MUX TACAIR collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) requirement, putting the Valkyrie on a path to become the service’s first operational loyal wingman by summer 2029, according to The War Zone.
Development
The Valkyrie traces its origins to the AFRL Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) programme, with a contract awarded to Kratos in 2016. Wikipedia records a first flight on 5 March 2019 at Yuma Proving Ground, roughly 2.5 years after contract award — a timeline deliberately compressed to validate rapid defence-acquisition methods. The US Marine Corps entered the programme in January 2023, buying two XQ-58As under the PAACK-P effort for “collaborative killer” concept testing, as reported by USNI News. Kratos subsequently received a $34.8 million USMC contract modification in January 2025 for mission-system integration, with Northrop Grumman as industry partner, per a Kratos press release. That work culminated in the January 2026 Marine Corps decision to select Northrop Grumman and Kratos for the MUX TACAIR CCA programme, awarding Northrop Grumman a roughly $231.5 million contract for mission development that includes the company’s Prism autonomous software and production scale-up, as detailed by The Aviationist.
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