USAF orders additional BQM-167A subscale aerial target systems

25 January 2013 airforce-technology.com

Composite Engineering has received a contract for the delivery of additional BQM-167A air force subscale aerial target (AFSAT) systems to the US Air Force (USAF).

Valued at $32.8m, the sole source award represents the final delivery option of the AFSAT Lots 6-10 contract secured by the company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, in November 2009.

As part of the contract, the company will deliver an additional 28 BQM-167A drones, along with logistics and technical support services to the AFSAT Program Office for the next one year.

CEI senior vice president and general manager Glenn Wells said the company is looking to deliver the drones and services to the air force, while also preparing to support the forthcoming AFSAT Lots 11-15 sole source procurement contract.

"We are honoured to provide products that enable the USAF Aerial Targets Program Office to utilise reliable and realistic targets that help hone the skills of our military pilots and aircrew," Wells added.

Kratos Unmanned Solutions Systems division president Richard Selvaggio said the company will continue deliveries of potential adversary threat-representative target drones to the air force.

Powered by a single MicroTurbo Tri 60-5+ engine, the BQM-167A is a re-usable, remotely-controlled target, designed to support the air-to-air weapon system evaluation programme and other USAF and Department of Defense (DoD) air-to-air test and evaluation sorties.

Manufactured using carbon fibre and epoxy-based materials, the land-launched drone can also support multiple missions by carrying a broad spectrum of towed targets and payloads, such as a scoring system, infrared and radar enhancements, electronic attack pods and a chaff / flare dispenser set.

Initial deliveries under the contract are expected to commence in late 2013, with completion scheduled in the middle of 2015.