The struggle for air supremacy over the western Pacific Ocean, adjacent to the coast of China, has definitely reached a new technological level.
In a previous article on this topic, I already wrote that the United States is faced with two factors that significantly weaken its military power in this region. First, they began to be inferior in size to the PLA Air Force, both in the total number of aircraft and in the number of aircraft of the latest types. The Americans can exhibit 200-250 aircraft of the latest types, or up to 300, if together with their allies. China, however, can exhibit, according to the Pentagon, up to 600 aircraft of the latest types. Secondly, American aviation is based on the islands and has few airfields, and therefore it is very crowded and vulnerable to a missile strike. China has many more airfields, and it has the ability to use many of its newly built freeways as runways to disperse its aviation.
These two factors, combined with the fact that in the event of a military conflict, the Americans will have to act offensively, try to suppress the Chinese aircraft, that is, fly over Chinese territory in the Chinese air defense zone, lead to the likely defeat of American aircraft. For each American aircraft there are two Chinese newest types, two or three more aircraft of the previous types, ground-based air defense systems.
The American command is practicing various methods of turning this situation in its favor, not excluding unmanned aircraft.
Small and cheap
It was recently announced that the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned aircraft, which has already completed three test flights, will be tested in flight with outboard weapons in 2020. These tests, if successful, will open the way for this development to be adopted.
The XQ-58A Valkyrie is one of the most recent aeronautical developments undertaken by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions for the United States Air Force. The XQ-58A Valkyrie is a small and cheap unmanned aircraft. Its length is 8, 8 meters, wingspan is 6, 7 meters. The cost of serial samples is determined in the range of 2-3 million dollars per piece. For comparison: the F-35 has a length of 15.4 meters, a wingspan of 11 meters, and its cost ranges from 82.4 to 108 million dollars, depending on the modification. How inexpensive the drone can be can be judged at least by the fact that its cost roughly corresponds to seven AIM-120C missiles, that is, half of the F-35 ammunition load.
From a military-economic point of view, the advantages are more than obvious. For the cost of one F-35, you can build about 30 units of the XQ-58A. But it is not only and not so much about the cost as the fact that drones can obviously be built faster than airplanes. That is, having launched the series, the Americans will have several hundred such unmanned aircraft in a few years.
Combat capabilities
The XQ-58A Valkyrie is a carrier of weapons such as the GPS-guided JDAM bombs or the GBU-39 guided bombs. Now, judging by the known data, the use of unmanned aircraft as part of a mixed flight consisting of F-35 or F-22 is being practiced (there are also opinions that the F-15 can also be used as the flight core), and five to six unmanned aircraft.
As far as can be judged, this is so far only a concept, since real tests and mixed-link exercises have not yet been carried out, and they may take place, perhaps, no earlier than 2021, if the test program for a drone with weapons is successful. Moreover, the concept is clearly not fully presented.
In such a composition, the mixed link will be extremely vulnerable to an attack by enemy (that is, primarily Chinese) aviation. The pilot of the aircraft will be overloaded with tasks, including the tasks of controlling and guiding the drones to the target. Attention is scattered, a "yawn" situation arises, which the enemy can take advantage of. Another point is that the pilot will have to abandon the drones to conduct an air battle with the enemy that appears, and they will be easily destroyed by other enemy aircraft or air defense.
It can hardly be assumed that the Americans would have made such an elementary tactical mistake. Most likely, the real concept of using combat robots is based on the fact that they can also be used as interceptors.
The XQ-58A Valkyrie is likely to carry air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM. Such a rocket weighs 152 kg and can be placed on the external sling of an unmanned aircraft. Drones may not have their own radar (although this cannot be completely ruled out) and receive guidance commands from the pilot.
If the XQ-58A can, at least to a limited extent, perform the functions of intercepting enemy aircraft, then it is already possible to create a mixed link with much broader combat capabilities. Let's say 2-3 fighter drones and 3-4 attack drones (they will most likely be of the same type and differ only in the set of suspended weapons). Having echeloned the fighters in height and distributed them over a certain area, the pilot can already create a fairly reliable cover for the strike group. When enemy planes appear, the pilot first attacks them with unmanned fighters, and then engages in battle himself.
From the appearance of the enemy on the radar to the pilot engaging in battle, it can take quite a long time, during which it is possible to have time to approach the target, distribute the tasks to the attack drones, give them commands to complete the mission and return, that is, to complete the combat mission.
So, most likely, the XQ-58A is designed and tested primarily as fighter robots, and the strike functions are secondary.
In a large-scale aerial battle, such drones can be a compelling argument. If each manned aircraft can take off with five accompanying drones, then ten aircraft with such an escort will amount to 60 combat units. One hundred aircraft - 600 combat units. If so, then there is already a fundamental technical opportunity to equalize forces with China, and in some regions even to achieve superiority in numbers.
An unmanned combat aircraft may seem like an inferior combat unit. However, it also has great benefits. Firstly, much higher overload resistance and, therefore, much more maneuverability than a manned aircraft. It is easier for a drone to dodge a missile and it is easier to take an advantageous position for a shot. Secondly, the software of the robots can be constantly updated, replenished with new piloting algorithms, all the latest developments in air combat tactics and the experience of the best pilots. Gradually, unmanned aircraft will reach the level of air combat aces, which will significantly improve the effectiveness of their use.
All in all, the XQ-58A Valkyrie is a good answer to China's air superiority. He does not guarantee anything 100%, but the Americans have a serious chance to regain their dominance in aviation weapons and thereby reinforce their military power.
