{"id":21874,"date":"2023-10-06T17:19:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/06\/watch-marine-corps-flies-its-valkyrie-robotic-aircraft-for-the-1st-time\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T21:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:00:22","slug":"watch-marine-corps-flies-its-valkyrie-robotic-aircraft-for-the-1st-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2023\/10\/06\/watch-marine-corps-flies-its-valkyrie-robotic-aircraft-for-the-1st-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Marine Corps flies its Valkyrie robotic aircraft for the 1st time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Valkyrie, a highly autonomous aerial combat vehicle, makes it first successful test flight with the Marine Corps. (Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The Marine Corps completed its first test flight Tuesday of a robotic aircraft <\/a>that could get downed in battle without taking a big chunk out of the service\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service received the first of two XQ-58A Valkyrie drones in March as part of its efforts to develop lower-cost unmanned systems<\/a>, according to a Marine news release Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The test flight Tuesday was an early step toward getting the robot aircraft ready to fly in support of Marine Corps missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe aircraft performed as expected,\u201d the Corps said, without providing additional details about the results of the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video of the flight posted by the Marine Corps on Thursday shows the uncrewed jet, which doesn\u2019t require a runway, take off at Eglin Air Force Base on Florida\u2019s Gulf Coast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Valkyrie \u2014 which clocks in at approximately $6.5 million<\/a>, according to the manufacturer \u2014 could be a relatively low-cost way for the Marine Corps to build out its inventory of uncrewed aircraft. In contrast, General Atomics\u2019 MQ-9 Reaper drone, designed for surveillance, costs approximately $38 million, according to a Pentagon budget document<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price tag and lack of crew would make the 30-foot-long<\/a> Valkyrie \u201cattritable,\u201d in Pentagon lingo, meaning it would be OK with the military if the aircraft were downed in combat after a few missions, according to Air Force informational materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t