Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie: A Loyal Wingman for the US Marine Corps

[@megaprojects9649]

Go to the link: imprintapp.com/Megaproject_2024 to get 20% off an annual membership

[@knowahnosenothing4862]

I thought the US was copying AU's homework on the Ghost Bat, Boeing Australia minds and engineers. With the provisor of give us what you've done and we'll give you something better. I hope AU buys those V280 Valor too if given the chance.

[@thomgizziz]

Just stop, you are a joke. You don't know what you are talking about and you have talked about your team also which from years of bad videos are clearly just looking up stuff on the internet and throwing it together. You spread so many lies you make the main stream media look down right trustworthy and like they actually fact check.

[@nocillis]

Simon, you might want to talk to your editor because the B-role keeps showing the MQ-28A Ghost Bat instead of the Kratos in some shots when mentioning the Kratos

[@EBMisKing]

Crazy how non- Lockheed/boeing small contractors are actually almost always on time and on budget

[@talscorner3696]

A project on time and on budget?! What is this sorcery?

[@jonthrelkeld2910]

The Flying Pig effect.

[@swiftycortex]

Fr fr!

[@shmuckling]

The military industrial complex giants got too comfortable and now the military is open to dealing with new competitive companies that are willing to take risk and innovate.

[@michaelwoodby5261]

Not worrying about a pilot streamlines combat aircraft design by a ton in many ways. It's more like a cruise missile that can come back home after a task.

[@talscorner3696]

@@michaelwoodby5261 that is true, yeah

[@rockstc955]

Fun fact, the word Kratos comes from the ancient greek word for Power. The same word was used at the end to make the word demoKRAcy, AKA democracy, 'people power'

[@ThomasHendrickson]

thats really cool

[@tokyosmash]

I for one am excited about our robot overlords.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:00 - Chapter 1 - Affordable & attritable 3:25 - Mid roll ads 4:55 - Chapter 2 - Droning on about specs 8:40 - Chapter 3 - 5 variants 10:20 - Chapter 4 - Penetrating killer 12:25 - Chapter 5 - Further evolution 14:30 - Chapter 6 - Imitation is the highest form of flattery

[@Special_K_42069]

I love you, Simon. In an appropriate way, of course. Your work always brightens my day, or at least makes me feel better.

[@jacksavage7808]

Loved the V1 launching rocket system and the ME-263 dolly system. 1944 all over again.

[@trailblazer632]

Nothing is new some things were just ahead of their time😂

[@thomgizziz]

@@trailblazer632 wow you are slow

[@trailblazer632]

@thomgizziz and youre restarted.

[@richardmeo2503]

Should be testing these in Red Sea NOW. Small war, some anti-air defenses and a determined enemy with lots of places to hide

[@cyberfunk3793]

Or Ukraine.

[@bobbythomas6520]

@@cyberfunk3793that would start a Russian war America war lol

[@cyberfunk3793]

@@bobbythomas6520 Good, time to put ru in its lane.

[@bobbythomas6520]

@ unfortunately that could lead to worse consequences. We should just leave them alone as long as they do the same

[@scratchy996]

@@bobbythomas6520 "as long as they do the same" - they are shooting at civilian ships.

[@Joe-m1k]

F35 in the thumbnail looks like a flying saucer from the cameras perspective ... I wonder if anyone has ever thought the same thing ... LOL...

[@HumblyQuestioning]

I thought "man it needs some Anduril ordinance" and bam, it's got it. These are def the future.

[@UnexpectedInquisition]

Size of a civic and can be launched without a runway. Could have some pretty small ships with cargo container size units act as drone launchers. Or could launch them from cargo planes

[@BBBrasil]

Rapid Dragon option

[@derekstein6193]

Anybody else think that these fighter pilots will give their pet escort drones dog names? "These are my XQ-58s; Fido and Rex. I heard you recieved your own pair, is that right?" "Yep. I love my Goldie and Smokey. I never take off without them."

[@drmcneese]

Simon - another great program with excellent narration, but, the name of the flying wingman drone is Valkyrie, not Valkylrie.

[@atabademide1020]

The valkryie is actually the UCAV that was in the movie 'Stealth' without the thinking part...

[@HailAzathoth]

Shows an F35 in the thumbnail....

[@zabumafu7037]

That's the price of an outfit pushing things out too fast. Sacrificing quality for quantity.

[@reallybig4868]

For someone into unknown things you sure are a smartass

[@theohornsby51]

“Loyal wingman on marine corps” *pictures marine corps aircraft*

[@zabumafu7037]

@reallybig4868 This channel is one of the good ones. I don't want them to become a slop farm. It's my job as one of their longtime viewers to be critical when they start to slip up. If you don't think that's right, you're part of the problem.

[@Ryuondo]

Considering the XQ-58 is supposed to work alongside the F-35, (potentially) the B-21, NGAD, and F/A-X as wingmen to the single parent aircraft providing said aircraft with extra capabilities, and only one of those is in full production, that being the F-35, it makes sense to feature it.

[@Bseeker779]

The picture shown at 11:55 is not two F-35s, it is an F-35 and an F-22. The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie is still pretty amazing.

[@Sptn051]

So this guy saw Stealth (2005) and thought, "Yeah I can do that"

[@waelhedekaila]

Reminds me of that movie stealth about Apowered jet fighter

[@themotionbrickness]

Not needing a runway certainly has its advantages in some scenarios, but how long does it take to turn one of those around and launch again? Doesn’t exactly look like a 4-man lift to get it back on the launcher to refuel and re-arm. I suppose at that price you might have enough to get the job done without having to send any back out. And speaking of price, $2m seems suspiciously cheap. Is that real fly away cost, or do they use creative accounting and not include the engine or something? Certainly wouldn’t include any of the sensors or radios necessary to make it useful, but that’s standard. They call that “customer supplied” because that stuff is pretty pricey😮

[@camp002]

2 million is about the price of a tomahawk or similar curse missle so it is about right

[@kwonekstrom2138]

The $2m price tag is because this is essentially a cruise missile... not a combat air craft. Turnaround time probably isn't long (assuming no damage). Depends on how much maintenance the engine requires. It has a turbine comparable to a tomahawk... The difference being the Tomahawk has a warhead and the Valkyrie carries a payload.

[@hifinsword]

The JATO launches are impressive. I'd like to see the landings or recoveries. They would not be able to land "anywhere" i.e. the ocean, unless they are setup to float and resist salt water intrusion. These a/c lacking LG are apparently test beds. The full-scale production a/c could have gravity assisted LG that drop down like the space shuttle and earlier "X" series rocket powered aircraft. They could land without any damage from a parachute landing, and even at sea on aircraft carriers..Such drop down gear would be lighter allowing more flight time, mission distance and/or higher combat weapons capacity.

[@hazonku]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the CEO's tie in that photo of him. Stylin' AF boy. 5:42

[@greg5023]

Everything he said, "Jolly good. Harrumph braw braw braw. This gout will be the death of me. Begonest, matey."

[@aaronmonheim6428]

Simon rocking a solid gold Rolex Day Date on the President bracelet. Much better than those wood watch sponsors!!!!

[@veleriphon]

If that word salad works, it's smarter than the salad crafters that dreamed it up.

[@dardell2001]

Just wait until they make a version that can be launched by an aircraft carrier's launchers

[@alexevanspoppsychedelicren4158]

StarCraft let's go

[@kwonekstrom2138]

Old news. The USN is doing that with drones already. Currently developing a tanker drone.

[@hifinsword]

@@kwonekstrom2138 Boeing's MQ-25A Stingray is the length of an F-18 (51 ft) with the wingspan of an E-2 (75 ft). It is not a small UAV. It carries 20,000 lbs of jet fuel as a tanker. Future models could also carry out ISR and combat missions. Although the cost is said to be $16.5 million per a/c, the $13 Billion for the program is for 72 a/c, which rounds out to $180.55 Million aircraft.

[@kwonekstrom2138]

@ LOL. Yeah... tankers generally aren't small. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Since I didn't imply it was small... I'm not sure what your point is. Although the Stingray is very small for a tanker... Whataboutism is a pretty silly argument. The valkyrie isn't exactly a small drone either... It can carry a reasonable payload for hundreds of miles. What I stated is entirely correct. The USN had developed systems that are currently in place to launch drones from Carrier decks without specialized launchers. F/A18 = 45' wingspan 56' length XQ58 = 30' length 27' wingspan MQ25 = 51' length 75' wingspan It appears that carrying 16,000lb of fuel requires some wings for a carrier launch with half the thrust of an F/A18. (Similar gross weight).

[@hifinsword]

@@kwonekstrom2138 I was referring to the video, not to your post about the Stingray. A usual F/A-18 tanker loadout is 29k. The MQ-45's load is a little over half that at 16k. What the Stingray offers is to keep the flight hours of the Hornet flight down so they can remain in the fleet longer. However the Stingray actually cost more than a Hornet so the savings is illusory. Why are you so defensive?

[@cyc1020]

At 8:44, the CEO is introduced as the CEO of "Katros" instead of "Kratos".

[@su_shadow9326]

I am learning almost every day. I watch Megaprojects.

[@craigquann]

Seems like it will be limited in its roll until technology improves. Needs to be faster and with stealth on par with the parent aircraft. If not then it's only other use would be as a "missle truck" so the F-35 goes in ahead, destroys air defenses and the drone can follow with the additional ordnance to destroy other targets. Could also be used in situations as a rapid response air interceptor where 1 parent aircraft launches followed by a small swarm faster than multiple fighters can launch.

[@markbrisec3972]

I don't get it why USAF didn't pick up Valkyrie for their CCA program. Instead they went with General Atomics and Anduril's Fury. Valkyrie seems much more stealthy and it looks like it could get supersonic with a stronger engine...

[@pnw_wanderer9786]

Personally i like the MQ-28. But Valkyrie has a larger version that goes longer in range and can carry more weapons. Give it a 3.5K RT range to deliver 1K in payload and under $10 million and were good

[@BelowAverageUtahDad]

To my knowledge the loyal wingman competition is still underway. USAF awards multiple development programs for multiple purposes. The last contract development award was a few years ago so delivery on this milestone is likely approaching and then potential award fielding contracts should be approaching.

[@01oo011]

Guess we’ve reached the Ace Combat level.

[@superbaby0339]

Got 7 a couple months ago and I saw it immediately too

[@Nturner822]

Valkyrie is not prounced “Val-cuuure-ey” “Val-ky-rie”

[@andiepants1840]

The XB-70 Valkyrie was my first true love, so this better live up to the name!

[@Royce16727]

Simon, I love your channels so please don't take this the wrong way, but I feel it's necessary to point out a possible consequence of making war less costly for the warfighters: war will probably become even more common, and subsequently more costly, both in lives and treasure, for Noncombatants. Something to keep in mind, I think.

[@camerongunn7906]

"Congratulations pilot, your wingman is Kratos himself."

[@hifinsword]

There seems to be a lot of defense projects to fund a Loyal Wingman aircraft. This one seems incredibly cheap at $2 million a copy, compared to Boeing's MQ-25A Stingray, which is the length of an F/A-18 (51 ft) with the wingspan of an E-2 (75 ft). The MQ-25A is not a small UAV. It carries 20,000 lbs of jet fuel as a tanker. Future models could also carry out ISR and combat missions. Although the cost is said to be $16.5 million per a/c, the $13 Billion for the program is for 72 a/c, which rounds out to $180.55 Million aircraft. Cost projections always seem to be pie in the sky when it comes to defense acquisitions!

[@lesliespeaker668]

Have VTOL variants been flying in New Jersey recently? Maybe so.

[@hifinsword]

Why was it not called the Valkyrie II? Was it b/c the Valkyrie XB-70 was only experimental? Just wondering here.

[@JustinSeabolt]

I wonder if this use case is part of the reason Hermeus is using an engine from the F-5 for its combined cycle engine prototypes. Small and simple engines fit well in the loyal wingman role.

[@javierper3z]

Always wanted to know what real life terminators would look like.

[@Moctipotili1]

Couldn't finish the video about this ValKillRoy thingie

[@toodlepop]

if i were a pilot, i'd be a little disappointed in being called a "wingman" while this thing is called a "loyal wingman".

[@macbuff81]

It wasn't two F-35s on that picture, but one F-35 and an F-22

[@michiganengineer8621]

I recall reading about similar systems in some books by Dale Brown years and years ago. The first was in the book "Megafortress" and he only got better (and more accurate) since.

[@nickbunch9156]

Gotta love an exponential swarm drone

[@markkiely8326]

I'd love to see a video on the type 21 U boat the under Sea wonder weapon that came too late it was a real leap in submarine design

[@bagpipe1979]

Nice little bit of kit. Wonder if the E or F models will attempt carrier landings. It would make sense to have them forward deployed. A tail hook and some hearty gear would be all they need. Haha I know it would take more than that.

[@icantthinkofaname4265]

How big is your production team you crank these out so fast????

[@zabumafu7037]

It's not large enough apparently. I saw at least one spelling error. 😂

[@xXSwaghetti.YoloneseXx-uf2bb]

He only records, there are like ~10 writers and then 2-3 photographers plus 2-3 editors.

[@icantthinkofaname4265]

@@zabumafu7037 LMAO

[@absolutezero6423]

Could it be launched from the wings of a bomber like a missle? That way they could protect it by taking the hit from a sam or engage fighter intercepts.

[@davidraper5798]

The only problem with drones is the ever present temptation to keep adding capabilities to it, increasing it's usefulness but also it's cost. But if a drone is blown out of the sky... who cares? You just build another one. Living pilots are a lot harder to replace.

[@QBCPerdition]

Fully unmanned air forces fighting? Reminds me of the Star Trek episode A Taste of Armageddon

[@zabumafu7037]

The amount of bots in this comment section is hilarious

[@pin65371]

I'm thinking creating a business that has "smart" bots could work well. Upload the transcript and have an LLM pump out a bunch of comments based on the actual content. Then the bots post those comments. These comments the bots use now are all the same.

[@FreewayNoInterstate]

Omg why tf is there so many?

[@milk-it]

I'd trust Maverick more than a drone or remote controlled aerial vehicle flying at 500 knots next to me.

[@lovinpa8087]

Merry Christmas Guys

[@skvUSA]

Does XQ-58 has own targeting radar or who is going to paint target for AMMRAM-120?

[@toddburgess5056]

Its like using the "option" power-up in Gradius 🕹️📺

[@namelesscare7982]

This title reminds me of Kratos, the famous protagonist from the God of War video game.😂

[@tonynugent4008]

Hi Simon,love the videos by the way but what is a valkillrie?do u mean valkyrie(val-kiri)??😂😂

[@themaddgamer2112]

How is a subsonic aircraft going to be wingman to a supersonic aircraft?

[@themotionbrickness]

Most fighters spend very little time supersonic. Uses a lot of fuel and reduces combat range and time on station. High sub-sonic is good enough for most missions. Crewed jets might go super when running away from threats, so they probably don’t want the sacrificial ucavs to be able to outrun them😂

[@sinocte]

Cruise speed on the F-35 is listed at mach .86... same as the top speed of the drone more or less.

[@Shoelessjoe78]

One step closer to an unmanned future... Completely unmanned future

[@jamesburge1983]

ON TIME, ON BUDGET! That is the video name. Use that and views will triple!

[@uku4171]

Wasn't it based off an existing target drone by Kratos? Probably what helped them get it done so quick.

[@nssmithtx1]

Did Xzibit design this? "Hey, dog - heard you like drones, so I put a drone inside a drone so you can drone while you drone."

[@aliasalias8681]

How many can you fit in a cargo plane?

[@VRG_HQ]

Kratos is legit af

[@stuartkcalvin]

12:35 Simon, we're up tp TADL link 21

[@cornbread5144]

@ MP, Respectfully request a video in the A-6 Intruder navel attack aircraft.

[@corey4109]

Id stop calling these drones expendable, our future robot overlords won't like it very much

[@mattfavaloro350]

They also won't forget it because their ability to remember is impeccable

[@Brostopheles-i2f]

AI will someday be racist slang because of the word artificial.

[@papakamirneron2514]

Well it’s a shame that these aren’t full blown autonomous A.I.rmen just yet (pardon the pun) but we could do with those.

[@bozhijak]

The great grandson of the V1

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Can't wait to see it in action in Ace Combat 8!

[@superbaby0339]

Is this not the one in 7?

[@dodge1571]

would like your thoughts on the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat

[@EL_Duderino68]

6:10 We totally want an AI-controlled weapons system so that weapons don't need humans. I just found out the Gemini AI will say that it didn't want to tell people about making bombs but it had to.

[@kickmcmelon18]

Hope your not working yourself to death man. If your sick take a break brother, plus it's the holidays we will understand!

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

3:35 I do not doomscroll tiktok as i have never nor will i ever download said app. Lol. I learn from you, Factboi!

[@broccanmacronain457]

My one question would be can it be hijacked remotely. That would be terrifying if your "wingman slows and pulls behind you to shoot you from behind.

[@lkardashev]

Man : Sees thumbnail Man : Stay calm you’re matured 😂😂you’re matured

[@roqua]

8:48 Kratos or Katros? A lil' on-screen hiccup :)

[@SheringtonMalta]

Just don't give these drones access to the Caviar Sweep files, or fly them through lightning.

[@mississaugaicedogs]

Just need an arsenal bird now

[@CadavresSansNom]

Make the weapons controlled by a.i. Make the machines controlled by a.i. Make the defense systems controlled by a.i. Make the a.i. controlled by a.i. Make mankind controlled by a.i.

[@Amy_GDala]

At 8:44 the video shows the CEO of Katros.

[@ShineiHimura]

Ace combat 7 ptsd from these drones

[@phizc]

Fun fact: "missile" in Swedish is "robot".

[@maxdanielj]

All China will end up with is a Temu version of the Valkyrie with a survivability worse than a Japanese zero in a typhoon

[@uku4171]

2 million would be insanely cheap actually. That's the cost of a single Tomahawk cruise missile.

[@JanHoellwarth]

“Kratos” means “strength”, “power” in Old Greek.

[@BrianKedersha]

Don't make them too smart, or they won't want to fight

[@rodziegman]

Sorry, Simon, I have it on good insider info that the 5th variant will be called BOB.

[@king_dbish7337]

Thought it was going to be about a new f35 variant

[@ingemar_von_zweigbergk]

I like exotic technology drones

[@youwillneverguess]

How many crayons can it hold?

[@jim.franklin]

Meanwhile the RAF have announced that they will be fielding DJI Mavic 4 Drones instead of the previously ordered F35s in the latest Defence Review 😁 Seriously, I would assume the Chinese have come to similar copst related conclusions to the USAF - capable drones are far cheaper than manned aircraft, thus, instead of having 500 J20's, they can have 10,000 AI enabled drones...

[@John_Redcorn_]

Its dumb to trust your national security on AI.

[@apolloaero]

The UK relying on Chinese made drones, a country that's hostile towards it and that bribes retired RAF pilots to teach their own pilots to defeat NATO, that's about as smart as it sounds. Also, a DJI Mavic 4 has a 40 km range unladen, add explosives for some or ISR capabilities to others, comms and etc for the others still, and you reduce that range. These drones are good as artillery shell replacement. Not so much for replacing fighter jets, much less the F-35

[@jim.franklin]

@@apolloaero Its a Joke FFS!! The current Government are slashing everyones budgets to pay for their pet projects of communism.

[@Member00101]

China's entire airshow they had recently was pretty much a copy of everything America has. Even their space program has a rocket that looks exactly like SpaceX's Starship.

[@voivode2591]

The XQ-58 is a joint project with Australia. Meant to work with the F35. Everything is going well except the Air to Air missiles. The US cancelled the sale of the missiles to Australia. Probably because of the compromised targeting systems. A result of the Ukraine war. That was also just before the new missiles that will fit inside the F35 weapons bay were revealed. I believe they will also fit inside of the X-58. The USAF rejected this one last year as being too small. General Dynamics has the contract at the moment. That could also change again.

[@Abaddon6666666]

The MQ-28 Ghostbat is a Boeing Defense drone designed and built in Australia. Nothing to do with Kratos. They just look similar.

[@Harrington2323]

6th generation fighterjets should have the ability to operate with, or lead drone swarms into missions. So it´s logical to develop the drones for this jets.

[@Miro_X]

PLEASE do the ghostbat

[@poodlescone9700]

Someone in Kratos has been watching too much Macross Zero.

[@gamingaccount6904]

So it is a very complicated V2?

[@shadowsofdissonance4805]

I miss the old music