Valkyrie CCA demonstrates beyond-line-of-sight control and electronic warfare
NewsAugust 19, 2026
SAN DIEGO, California. A U.S. Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) demonstrated electronic warfare (EW) capabilities and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) command and control during a flight test in Southern California, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced in a statement.
The runway-independent aircraft launched from a zero-length launcher and tested the BLOS communications system before control was transferred from a Kratos ground station to an Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA)-compliant human-machine interface developed by Autonodyne, the statement reads. A Marine Corps operator then controlled the aircraft over the BLOS link while the Valkyrie operated with Marine Corps F-35 aircraft and an F/A-18 during coordinated EW testing, the company says.
The Valkyrie returned autonomously to its recovery point after the mission, according to the statement. Kratos says the test represented the fourth mission-system configuration flown on Marine Corps Valkyrie aircraft in less than three years. Kratos and Northrop Grumman are also developing missionized Valkyrie aircraft under the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
