Kelley Aerospace presented the concept of the first supersonic unmanned combat aerial vehicle, Strela.
The developed model of the fighter has a one-piecestreamlined body made of carbon fiber, which makes it sufficiently lightweight and durable at the same time. With a maximum mass of 16.8 tons, the UAV can fly with a torque of 2.6 kN ∙ m.
The company's engineers say that "Strela" can be equipped with a set of different sensors and carry multiple weapons systems, so it can perform a wide range of tasks withhigh level of risk and coordinate their actions with other drones, forming a swarm.
Kelley Aerospace is also developing a Black Eagle UAV that can carry a larger payload.
At the estimated cost of one"Arrows" at $16 million, the company said it has received pre-orders for 100 units following a recent presentation. The current version of the fighter is still remote and requires the control of a qualified operator.
However, soon unmanned systemswill be able to do without human instructions. For example, in December, Boeing flight tested a swarm of jet-powered UAVs that independently determined how to perform assigned tasks, coordinated their actions and could ignore operator commands that violated protocol.
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