Key developments in drone technology and applications

A little clarity recently emerged regarding how U.S. Loyal Wingman or Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) unmanned fighter support vehicles will be initially configured. The emerging concept is that CCA would fly alongside F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor carrying various Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.

Kratos Valkyrie CCA flying with F-35 and F-22. (Photo: Kratos)

While both the F-35 and F-22 carry their own missiles, when their payload is expended, operators can continue the fight by firing AMRAAM and AIM-9 ordinance on the CCA “missile truck” flying alongside them. This means that the manned-unmanned team can bring twice the number of missiles to bear on an adversary. According to mission planning revealed in early 2023, the US Air Force (USAF) plans to pair two CCA vehicles with each manned front-line fighter aircraft – with at least 1,000 unmanned CCA vehicles being brought into USAF inventory.

The potential suppliers of CCA unmanned aircraft include Anduril and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). They are developing a CCA based on the GA-ASI XQ-67A prototype, which first flew in February 2024. Boeing Australia’s MQ-28A Ghost Bat Airpower Teaming System first flew in February 2021. Additionally, Kratos’ XQ-58A Valkyrie has been flying since 2022, and Northrup Grumman recently flew its manned-unmanned Loyal Wingman prototype Vanguard Model 437 on Aug. 29, 2024.

By incorporating full autonomy or being controlled by manned aircraft, these CAA are also designed to fly ahead, avoid detection, perform advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks, provide early warning, and — when suitably equipped — conduct electronic warfare. The system is engineered to engage its own targets with or without its fighter teammates.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that could significantly restrict the use of Chinese-made drones, particularly those manufactured by DJI, in the United States. On September 9, 2024, the House approved the Countering CCP Drones Act, a bipartisan bill .

The act aims to add DJI Technologies to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Covered List. If enacted, this would prohibit new models of DJI drones from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure. The bill is part of a broader effort to address potential national security risks posed by Chinese-made technology.

The legislation has passed in the House and will now move to the Senate for review. It may be included in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025. Senators Mark Warner and Rick Scott have introduced a related bill in the Senate, which also aims to blacklist DJI and other Chinese drone companies.

The proposed ban appears to target only new versions of Chinese drones, while existing models in the United States can still be flown by their owners within FAA regulations. Additionally, a new product with exactly the same design and an FCC license can still be purchased without restrictions. However, if the ban were to be implemented, newly designed products would be unable to obtain an FCC license to use U.S. communications.

DJI Mavic 3 (Photo: DJI)

Another bill, Drones for First Responders, does not go as far as to ban Chinese drones. Rather, it suggests adding a tariff to any imported drones. The revenue generated from the tariff would be used to encourage the purchase of U.S.-made drones or those manufactured in locations not on the U.S. list of restricted countries. This initiative is intended to support U.S.-based commercial operations, such as farmers and first responders, including firefighters, ambulance operators, and police. It is worth noting that all U.S. government departments are thought to have already dropped the use of any Chinese-made drones due to existing restrictions.

It seems okay to keep your existing DJI drone for your own private use or commercial operation and even replace it with another existing model as long as stocks are available — but it might cost more because of new import tariffs.

On quite an unrelated UAV subject – it seems that Swift Navigation has decided to leave the GNSS OEM business and has sold its Duro product line to Carnegie Robotics, which is folding the GNSS receiver business into its robotics and sensor product portfolio.

The two companies have collaborated since 2017, when they developed Duro high-precision GNSS receivers and software. When accompanied by the Swift Skylark Precise Positioning Service, Duro receivers may be augmented to achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy.

It is great to see that Archer is making significant headway along its path to developing and enhancing the performance of its Midnight air-taxi eVTOL. Archer established a goal to achieve 400 test flights this year to get FAA certified by 2025. The company announced that 402 flights were already completed by August.

Flights have expanded the envelope of the aircraft for the transition from take-off to flight and vice-versa for landing, landing under varying wind conditions, tuning hover noise profiles, extending endurance by optimizing control laws, and of course, increasing the rate of test flights. These are normal developmental steps along the road to baselining the performance envelope, which will be used to certify the aircraft and, along the way, collect data that will flow into the certification program.

In summary, we have an outline of how Loyal Wingman UAVs may initially become missile trucks alongside front-line fighter aircraft, potential restrictions on Chinese drones in the United States, the sale of an OEM GNSS product line, and a high rate of flight tests for the Midnight eVTOL.