The US Air Force wants its next generation of target drones to mimic stealth jets

Date:
Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:40:00 +0000

Description:
The US Air Force is seeking industry proposals for cheap, expendable drones that mimic stealth fighters, bombers, and smaller aerial threats.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter The Air Force wants drones spanning hobbyist toys to full stealth fighters Fighter-mimicking drones must fly past Mach 1.6 at high altitude Bomber-sized drones need matching radar, heat, and physical dimension signatures The US Air Force is seeking industry proposals for target drones capable of imitating threats from cheap
commercial aircraft to stealth fighters.

A recent Request for Information issued by the service sets a deadline of September 28 2026 for companies to submit concepts. The requested drone
series would span nearly every category of aerial threat, from small hobbyist-style platforms to heavy bombers. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: A range of threats in one series The Air Force's request describes platforms that must stand in for cheap hobbyist drones on one end and advanced fifth-generation fighters or large multiengine aircraft on the other.

For supersonic fighter simulation, the request describes speeds beyond Mach 1.6 at roughly 40,000 feet, combined with sharp high-G maneuvering. You may like US Navy plans for 'Air Wing of the Future' with next-generation, pilotless carrier-based 1,150-mile-range drones to fly alongside manned aircraft USAF is buying banned DJI drones to train its operators against the 'most statistically probable real-world threat' USAF wants to replace $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drones with cheaper UAVs after "dozens" were lost in
Iran, costing taxpayers billions

It also calls for tightly controlled radar signatures and layered infrared
and radio-frequency emissions meant to resemble a genuine combat aircraft.

Systems meant to stand in for large drones would need to operate at altitudes near 50,000 feet, matching how high those aircraft actually fly. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
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Midsize platforms would need to fly at speeds between Mach 0.5 and 0.8 while making sharp, forceful turns similar to real fighters.

Smaller systems, meant to substitute for compact scout-class drones, would
fly well under 150 knots and support coordinated swarm behaviour.

For aircraft the size of a C-130, engineers care less about raw performance and more about matching physical scale, subsonic handling, and propulsion behaviour. What to read next US Army is hunting for surface-to-air missiles able to take down small drones Pentagon is looking for drone bombers, but don't expect a B52 replacement Chinese firm selling stealth 'core technology by the kilogram' to make drones almost invisible to radars spray-on coating is almost affordable by F-117 standards, slashes reflected radar power by 50%

That accuracy allows engineers to test how well a missile's guidance system and warhead would perform against a realistically sized aircraft. Cost and history shape the approach The service is explicit that affordability matters as much as realism, describing a preference for systems cheap and simple enough to be treated as expendable when a test requires it.

Rather than relying solely on traditional defense contractors, the Air Force is inviting commercial, modified commercial, and dual-use proposals that
might undercut the cost and complexity of older programs.

This approach follows nearly a century of remote-controlled target aircraft, stretching back to Britain's converted Tiger Moth trainers flown in the
1930s.

Since 2007, the Air Force has leaned on the BQM-167A, a subscale subsonic drone roughly 20 feet long, far smaller than a Chinese J-20 fighter or an H-6 bomber.

The service also operates the QF-16, a retired F-16 that has been converted
to stand in as a full-scale fourth-generation threat aircraft.

Though it cannot convincingly replicate a modern stealth aircraft, it remains too costly to expend in large numbers.

After its recent military engagement in Iran, the U.S. has seen every reason to emphasize 'cheap' instead of 'performance.

In the war, the U.S. has lost approximately 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones about 25% of its fleet costing over $1.3 billion, to a series of comparatively cheap Iranian drones and missiles.

So, while the U.S. may or may not be winning the physical war, it is
certainly not happy with the financial implications of the victories or losses.

Whether the commercial industry can actually deliver stealthy, high-speed, expendable drones at the price point the Air Force wants remains an open question.

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