Boeing to base US Air Force prototype on pilotless combat jet
Boeing will use a pilotless, fighter-like jet developed in Australia as the basis for its US Air Force Skyborg prototype, an executive at the plane maker said yesterday.
The “Loyal Wingman”, the first military aircraft to be designed and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years, made its first flight on Saturday under the supervision of a Boeing test pilot monitoring it from a ground control station in South Australia.
Boeing’s Loyal Wingman is 11.6m long, has a 3,704km range and a nose that can be outfitted with various payloads.
The plane can also carry weapons and act as a shield to help protect more expensive manned fighter jets.
The US Air Force in December awarded multimillion dollar contracts to Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Kratos Defense and Security Solutions to produce unmanned aerial prototypes that can team with crewed jets.
“The air power teaming system is the basis for our Skyborg bid,” Boeing air power teaming programme director Shane Arnott told reporters.
“Obviously the US market is a big market.
“That is a focus for us, achieving some sort of contract or programme of record in the United States.”
Defence contractors are investing increasingly in autonomous technology as militaries around the world look for cheaper and safer ways to maximise their resources.
Australia, a staunch US ally, is home to Boeing’s largest footprint outside the US and has vast airspace with relatively low traffic for flight testing.
The Australian government said on Tuesday it would invest a further A$115m (R1.34bn) to acquire three more Loyal Wingman aircraft for the Royal
Australian Air Force to develop tactics for using the jets with crewed planes, on top of its initial investment of A$40m (R466.3m).
“Our aim with Boeing is to understand how we can get these aircraft to team with our existing aircraft to be a force multiplier in the future,” RAAF Air-Vice Marshal and head of air force capability Cath Roberts said.
Boeing has said up to 16 Loyal Wingman jets could be teamed with a crewed aircraft for missions.