US DOT&E reveals loss of 5GAT target prototype
by Richard Scott
The first prototype Fifth-Generation Aerial Target (5GAT) built for the US Department of Defense (DoD) was destroyed during a flight test in October 2020, the Pentagon’s Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) has revealed in its annual report to Congress.
A full-scale, low-observable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sponsored by DOT&E, the 5GAT target is designed to enable platform and weapons test and evaluation (air-to-air and surface-to-air), pilot and ground-force training, and the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures against a stealthy fifth-generation threat.
Developed by STS, the 5GAT target is intended to emulate the characteristics of fifth-generation adversary aircraft. (US DoD)
By Garrett Reim2021-01-22T00:50:00+00:00
The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation’s (DOT&E’s) stealthy Fifth-Generation Aerial Target (5GAT) was lost to an in-flight mishap in October.
A safety investigation is underway to determine the cause of the prototype unmanned air vehicle mishap, the DOT&E says in its 2020 annual report to the US Congress.
Source: Sierra Technical
5GAT rendering
The drone is disposable and is intended to be used for target practice. It is designed to mimic the low-radar cross section of adversaries’ stealth aircraft. In recent years, Russia has introduced the stealthy Sukhoi Su-57 and China the Chengdu J-20. The US Air Force wants stealthy target drones to practice firing on.
Air Force Picks 3 Makers for ‘Skyborg’ Drone Wingman
The XQ-58A Valkyrie completed the third flight of the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstration program Oct. 9, 2019 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. (Air Force photo/Joshua Hoskins)
15 Dec 2020
The U.S. Air Force has selected three defense companies to produce unmanned aerial vehicle prototypes for its Skyborg program, which will pair a drone guided by artificial intelligence with a human piloting a fighter jet.
The service last week awarded contracts to Boeing Co., $25.7 million; General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, $14.3 million; and Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, $37.8 million. Each will build a drone within a 24-month period, according to an Air Force release. The service did not specify how many prototype vehicles each company should produce and did not provide design specification criteria.