He flies together with the human-piloted fighters, chooses the targets and decides the attack strategy. He is not the only one: in Türkiye, Leonardo’s industrial partner experimented with a first simulated combat against a fighter. And the computer won against man
It is called Talon (Artiglio) and it is the new collaborative combat aerial drone (CCA) presented by Scaled Composites, an always innovative company of the Northrop Grumman group. Previously called Project Lotus, it is an evolution of the original project made to take part in the “CCA Increment One” program of the US Air Force.
The goal: reduce costs and speed up production
Tom Jones, vice president of the company and president of the aeronautics sector of Northrop Grumman, presenting the project said: “The goal was to reduce design costs by focusing on accelerating production. The end result is a more economical but also more performing project in many aspects that, at least for now, we cannot yet disclose. I think what we did was follow the need for speed in production, which is so requested by the Armed Forces.”
Design and technical characteristics of the Talon
The shape of the Talon is in some ways reminiscent of projects recently announced by Scaled Composites, including the Model 437, now used as a test bed for autonomous flight. Jones also explains that Talon is not specifically intended for the subsequent project envisaged by the US Defense or for other international programs, but could end up being the basis of an offer for a product that can also be exported to other armed forces of other countries.
Materials, reduced weight and optimized components
During design, Northrop and Scaled significantly reduced the weight and number of components of the aircraft to reduce costs, stopping the scales at less than 450 kg and demonstrating a 30% increase in assembly speed by using an all-composite structure.
Collaborations with the US Navy and mystery about the engine
To date, Northrop Grumman also has a contract with the US Navy for the first CCA projects, but it was not revealed what type of vehicle was requested.
The aircraft features a square nose with a long, streamlined fuselage. The aircraft has a large air intake on the top of the fuselage, above the wings, with a second small air intake in the tail. The aircraft is powered by a turbofan engine, although the company did not specify which engine is used.
Autonomy test and role of artificial intelligence
While Northrop and Scaled Composites are introducing Project Talon, the aircraft is also progressing on the testbed for endurance testing. This specimen will be used to evaluate artificial intelligence software by a number of companies and although it has already carried out a series of flights, it will fly again in a few weeks to accelerate the testing campaign.
How the new collaborative drones operate
Typical operation sees the Cca take off to support the sixth generation attack aircraft in carrying out missions. But they are not at the controls of the pilot of the traditional aircraft, or at least not entirely, being able to decide how to attack the designated target by establishing the method deemed best.
The global race for intelligent combat drones
This type of aircraft is in development almost all over the world.
Last week in Tekirdağ, (Turkey), the armed aerial drone Bayraktar Kizilelma engaged in a simulated aerial combat against a Turkish Air Force F-16 which was almost 50 kilometers away. Definitely proof that Turkey is making significant progress in this sector.
