Drones used as aerial targets by U.S. Air Force to be provided by Kratos
NewsMarch 08, 2023
SAN DIEGO, California. Kratos has won a $21.7 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for Lot 19 of full-rate production of the BQM-167A target, the company announced in a statement.
The contract includes 17 aircraft as well as mission kits, certain flight consumables, and technical data for the aircraft, which are known as Air Force Subscale Aerial Targets (AFSATs), the statement reads.
Subscale aerial targets are drones "used to provide a threat-representative target drone to support the Air-to-Air Weapon System Evaluation Program and other Air Force and Department of Defense air-to-air test and evaluation programs," according to the Air Force.
"The drone is land-launched using a rocket assisted takeoff and launched from a rail system," the Air Force states. "The drone can be recovered by a parachute recovery system either from land or water. Recovered targets are repaired, tested and reused. The BQM-167A can carry a full range of current Air Force subscale target payloads which include a scoring system, infrared and radar enhancements, electronic attack pods and a chaff/flare dispenser set."
