The U.S. Air Force’s XQ-67A drone is set to receive modifications and upgrades to demonstrate its ability to perform certain missions as part of a program called Demon Ape. Originally developed as a ‘sensor truck’ for the once-secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program, the stealthy XQ-67A is now being used as a testbed to support the Air Force’s larger Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) advanced drone effort.
General Atomics, which built the drone, has also confirmed that it served as the basis for its now-in-development CCA design.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) a sole-source contract for the Demon Ape-related work on Jan. 17. Demon Ape is actually a forced acronym standing for Demonstration of Autonomous Collaborative Platform Performance and Effectiveness. The XQ-67A broke cover in February 2024, which TWZ was the first to report, and made its maiden flight later that month.
“The Government currently requires a mix of research and data, hardware, and software in support of continuing the research and development of the XQ-67A,” according to an online notice about the contract award. “That work consists of integrating specific mission systems and upgrading the vehicle to ensure adequate power generation and thermal management capacity.”
A copy of the formal justification for the sole-source contract is attached to the notice, but is heavily redacted. Still, it does provide some additional details, including that the changes to the XQ-67A are tied to at least one specific mission set.
“The Government intends to continue the research and development of the XQ-67A by modifying the aircraft [redacted],” the justification document says. “For the XQ-67A to perform this mission, the offeror will have to integrate the specific mission systems [redacted] as well as upgrade to ensure adequate power generation and thermal management capacity.”
“At the conclusion of OBSS, the XQ-67A will have designs ready for the integration of mission systems,” the Air Force’s justification for the sole-source contract adds. “Additionally, the XQ-67A will have been integrated with critical mission infrastructure [redacted].”
Photo: USAF
Source: The War Zone