Drones and Unmanned Systems - Air, Sea, Land, Micro & Robot Systems

LONDON - The UK Royal Navy will ask Northrop Grumman to prepare its Talon Blue collaborative combat aircraft for trials under Project Vanquish, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins announced on November 10 aboard HMS Prince of Wales in Oslo. The agreement targets a demonstration in UK waters in 2027, including a launch from one of the navy’s two aircraft carriers.

Jenkins said the trials will show how uncrewed combat aircraft can operate safely alongside the existing air wing, supporting the navy’s move to a Hybrid Air Wing. The UK Ministry of Defence committed around £240 million ($287 million) to Project Vanquish in its June 2026 Defence Investment Plan, including trials of jet-powered drones alongside its F-35B fleet.

Designated YFQ-48A by the US Air Force, the Talon Blue made its fully autonomous first flight in early October after losing out in the service’s Increment 1 CCA contest. The carrier trials will build on previous Royal Navy work with other fixed-wing uncrewed types, including the General Atomics Mojave, Tekever AR5 and Windracers Ultra.

Source: Flightglobal
Associated URL: https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/2026/11/uk-royal-navy-picks-northrop-grummans-talon-blue-for-hybrid-air-wing-demonstration/

SAN DIEGO - Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco said during a recent quarterly earnings call that the company’s Valkyrie drones now cost roughly $6 million to $8 million each depending on configuration, with fully mission-equipped versions costing more. That is higher than the company’s earlier targets, including a 2024 range of $4 million to $6 million for rocket-launched versions and a long-held goal of $2 million per aircraft at scale.

Even so, the figure places Valkyrie well below other collaborative combat aircraft, with the US Air Force targeting an average unit cost of $20 million for its Increment 1 drones from General Atomics and Anduril. DeMarco argued that "affordability is gonna win," crediting shared supply chains with Kratos’ target drone production for its pricing edge.

The US Marine Corps is acquiring a missionized version of the Valkyrie, and Kratos is pursuing a German Air Force bid with Airbus for its U740 variant, which first flew in northern Europe last month. The program has faced setbacks, however, including an August crash at the US Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah that was not mentioned on the earnings call.

Source: The War Zone
Associated URL: https://www.twz.com/air/mq-58-valkyrie-drones-now-cost-6m-8m-each

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has fielded launched effects to 11 of its 12 headquarters divisions and to each multi-domain task force, with Griffon Aerospace supplying most of the systems. The figures come from Lt. Col. Hunter Gray, product manager for launched effects under Program Acquisition Executive Maneuver Air. The service plans to begin fielding to the final division next month. The effort answers Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s 2025 Drone Dominance memo, which directed the Army to equip each HQ division and MDTF with launched effects by the end of 2026.

Gray said Griffon can deliver hundreds of systems per month. He said about three weeks passed between the Army identifying the need to scale and delivery of Griffon’s first tranche. Most deliveries have been long-range systems from Griffon’s launched effects family, which includes the Outlaw drone. The Army did not disclose total quantities or which divisions have received systems. Officials credited Other Transaction Authority contracts and the DoD drone marketplace with speeding procurement. The Army is acquiring ISR, electronic warfare and kinetic payloads for the systems.

Source: Breaking Defense
Associated URL: https://breakingdefense.com/2026/11/army-fields-launched-effects-to-11-of-12-divisions-with-griffon-aerospace-delivering-the-majority/