General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has released images of a brand new, fully-constructed advanced air combat drone called the XQ-67A. The company built it as part of a contract to support the U.S. Air Force’s secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program.
Though an explicit connection has not been made, there have been indications in the past that this design leverages work the company is doing on Gambit, a novel family of advanced drones that involves different airframes that can be mated to a modular common ‘core’ chassis.
The pictures of the XQ-67A shown in this story were taken at an undisclosed location. General Atomics, as well as Kratos, first received a contract under the OBSS program back in October 2021. The Air Force subsequently chose General Atomics alone to proceed to actually build and flight test its design.
The first XQ-67A UCAV inside a hangar
“General Atomics Aeronautical is very excited to introduce the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) to the world for the first time. We think you’re looking at the future of unmanned combat air vehicles,” C. Mark Brinkley, a General Atomics spokesman, told The War Zone. “There is a lot of talk about UCAVs [Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles] and what the future might hold. But as people learn more about the XQ-67A OBSS and how the Air Force Research Laboratory and General Atomics have approached this project, they’ll discover it really is unlike anything they’ve seen so far.”
“Specifically, XQ-67A is an AFRL [U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory] program, and GA-ASI was selected to design, build, and fly that new aircraft,” Brinkley added. “Without getting into specifics, I can say that we are stepping through that program methodically and working closely with our government partners to hit all of the markers for the project and deliver on our promises. We’re focused on speed to ramp, accelerated design processes, and bringing true capability to the fight.”
The images we have now of the XQ-67A, which carries both General Atomics and AFRL markings, show that it has retractable tricycle landing gear, a broadly splayed v-tail, and a main wing with low, if any sweep. It also has a top-mounted dorsal engine intake and a stealthy chine line that wraps around the fuselage. The design is broadly similar in basic configuration to General Atomics’ own Avenger, as well as Boeing’s MQ-25 Stingray tanker, and Kratos’ XQ-58 Valkyrie.
The XQ-67A has a pair of air data probes fitted to the nose and high-visibility orange markings on its wings and tail, which are all indicative of an aircraft bound for flight testing. The XQ-67A’s overall markings are very similar to those applied to the Air Force’s XQ-58As, as well as those now operated by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Source: The Warzone