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Uncrewed aircraft · Air

XQ-58 Valkyrie

Kratos stealthy, runway-independent jet drone for collaborative combat missions.

by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

PrototypeUncrewed aircraftAirProduction start2026
kratosdefense.com/unmanned-systems/air/uncrewed-tactical-aircraft/xq-58a
  • Milestones4
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  • Components—
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A U.S. Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie experimental aircraft in flight

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. John McRell · Public domain (PD-USGov-Military-Air Force) · Resized and reencoded as WebP; no additional crop or retouching. Credit retained for factual editorial product coverage.

Milestones20192026
  1. First flightFirst flight at Yuma Proving Ground, confirmed
  2. MilestoneFirst flight under AI-agent control, confirmed
  3. MilestoneFirst Marine Corps XQ-58A test flight, confirmed
  4. Production startCTOL configuration entered production, reported

About XQ-58 Valkyrie

Long-range, high-subsonic uncrewed combat aircraft developed by Kratos with the Air Force Research Laboratory under the Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology effort; flying since 2019 and in testing with the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps.

Timeline4

  1. First flightConfirmed

    First flight at Yuma Proving Ground

    The XQ-58A demonstrator flew for 76 minutes at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

  2. MilestoneConfirmed

    First flight under AI-agent control

    AFRL flew machine-learning-trained AI algorithms on an XQ-58A during a three-hour sortie at Eglin.

  3. MilestoneConfirmed

    First Marine Corps XQ-58A test flight

  4. Production startReported

    CTOL configuration entered production

    Kratos said it had started production of XQ-58 CTOL aircraft earlier in 2026; the source did not confirm a first flight of the CTOL configuration.

The latest 10 milestones. Solid entries are confirmed, outlined reported, dashed estimated or still to come; dotted italic entries are speculative. Dates show only the precision the sources give.