AIBRIEF
On Aug. 14 the Air Force asked industry to build a three tier drone family, from 55 pound expendable scouts to Mach 1.6+ stealth fighter mimics, with proposals due Sept. 28.
The US Air Force published a Request for Information on SAM.gov on Aug. 14 asking industry to design a single family of expendable aerial targets that can impersonate threats from hobbyist-class scout drones to Mach 1.6 fifth-generation-style fighters, with industry responses due Sept. 28.
A target drone is an unmanned aircraft the Air Force flies against its own missiles, radars, and pilots so defenders can train and test against realistic threats without risking real jets and crews. The current fleet is uneven: the subscale BQM-167A cannot represent the size and radar returns of a J-20 or H-6, and the converted QF-16 is a real F-16 that costs too much to actually lose.
The new RFI splits the job into three tiers: a high-end reusable target that pulls 5–9 G and exceeds Mach 1.6 at 40,000 feet with a low-observable radar signature, a reusable-but-cheaper Group 3–4 drone that flies 6–8 G up to ten times, and 55-pound, 172-mile-per-hour attritable craft meant to be shot down in volume. Separate surrogates must reproduce C-130-sized propellers and bomber-class radar returns.
The shift is not a contract award; it is a market-research solicitation that explicitly invites commercial, modified-commercial, and dual-use vendors. The broadening comes after years of limited progress on Sierra Technical Services' 5GAT, the prior dedicated stealth-target program. Even non-traditional bidders will still have to plug into the existing Advanced Airborne Threat Target Control System (AATTCS).