Search

Air Force Wants Cheap, Expendable Drones And Missiles To Overwhelm Enemy Air Defenses

Air Force Wants Cheap, Expendable Drones And Missiles To Overwhelm Enemy Air Defenses
General Atomics' SkyGuardian, a variant of its Type-Certifiable Predator B UAV. Photo: General Atomics.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Pentagon scientists are trying to beat the cost curve the military likely will encounter in future wars by designing low-cost, expendable unmanned aircraft and munitions that can overwhelm enemy defenses without breaking the bank.“We need an unmanned, low-cost attritable aircraft,” Jeffrey Stanley, associate deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for science, technology and engineering, said.But the program to develop inexpensive unmanned aircraft itself needs to happen quickly and at a much lower cost than traditional government…

Subscriber-only content. Please log in below.

Not a subscriber or registered user yet?

Please contact us at clientservices@accessintel.com or call us at 888-707-5814 (Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and Friday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET.), to start a free trial, get pricing information, order a reprint, or post an article link on your website.



Congress Updates

Pentagon May Make ‘Tradeoffs’ For Low-Cost Autonomous Tech Without Reconciliation Funds, CTO Says

The Pentagon’s chief technology officer has said the department may need to make “tradeoffs” on certain capability priorities if Congress doesn’t pass a reconciliation with $350 billion in requested defense […]


SASC’s FY ‘27 NDAA Sticks With Army’s Plan For Legacy Aviation Procurement Cuts

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s (SASC) version of the next defense policy sticks to the Army’s proposed plan to cut procurement of its legacy aviation fleet, and does not authorize […]


SASC Approves $1.14 Trillion FY ‘27 NDAA With ‘Right to Repair’ Reform, Stock Buyback Restriction

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has approved its $1.14 trillion version of the next defense policy bill, adopting “right to repair” reform to provide the military services’ greater ability […]


House Appropriators Unveil $1.07 Trillion FY ‘27 Defense Bill, Restore Funds For E-7, Army Aviation

House appropriators on Wednesday released their $1.07 trillion fiscal year 2027 defense spending bill, with the legislation reversing Army aviation cuts, restoring funding for the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail program […]