A year after it was first unveiled, Kratos announced it flew the highly secretive Thanatos UCAV (Uncrewed Combat Air Vehicle) for the first time in the last few months.
Kratos Defense and Security has recently unveiled that its stealthy Thanatos UCAV has completed the maiden flight. However, due to the highly secretive nature of the program, the exact date of this flight was not publicly announced – the company just stated that the flight occurred sometime within the past few months.
The purpose of the flight was to confirm that the aircraft’s basic aerodynamic design is indeed flyable. The company is now focusing on flying a fully integrated system on Thanatos to continue with further testing.
“The air vehicle for Thanatos is now effectively proven,” stated Steve Fendley, the president of Kratos’ Unmanned Systems Division, in an exclusive interview with Aviation Week’s Brian Everstine, on the sidelines of the Reagan National Defense Forum, on Dec. 7, 2024. “We’re not trying to figure out does the airplane fly, we’re now trying to figure out does the integrated system tick the mission box.”
The Thanatos UCAV
Not much is known about the highly stealthy UCAV. Although its development has been known since 2019, it was only in Nov. 2023 that a 3D artist’s render of it was released in the company’s financial report, revealing its shape for the first time.
Alongside the render, the company’s President and CEO, Eric DeMarco, mentioned that “among the new opportunities we are pursuing, we are in discussions with a customer and hope to be under contract next year related to certain other Kratos tactical drone systems, including Thanatos”.
After a year, the customer is still unnamed, but it could possibly be the U.S. Air Force. The artist’s rendering, in fact, shows both the Air Force and Kratos markings on the unmanned aircraft, much like other designs that were pitched to the Air Force in the past. These include the Demogorgon, developed for the OBSS (Off-Board Sensing Station) contract.
As stated in the article here at The Aviationist last year, it would make sense if Kratos was pitching Thanatos as an option for the CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft) program, which will integrate NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) assets with 1,000 unmanned assets. These drones were previously referred to also as “Loyal Wingman” drones, usually with high-end stealth and supersonic speeds.
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As we explained in a recent post:
The “Loyal Wingman” concept typically involves unmanned or autonomous aircraft that operate as supportive, AI-driven wingmen to human-piloted aircraft, executing missions and tasks in close coordination with their human counterparts. In more recent parlance, the preferred concept is CCA (Cooperative Combat Aircraft), that represents a highly integrated, cooperative approach to air combat, where multiple crewed and uncrewed aircraft work together as part of a cohesive system, often with the AI-driven assets performing complex missions alongside human operators. In more general terms, the term MUM-T (Manned-Unmanned Teaming) is still used to refer to various types of manned and unmanned systems working together, with flexibility in mission and operation.
According to the render, the UCAV, named after Thanatos, the Ancient Greek god of death, is a single-engine tailless aircraft with a diamond shaped wing. This allows for reduced drag especially in the transonic range. The aircraft is also full of low-observability features, such blended air inlets, a “shovel” nose design and a recessed engine exhaust to reduce the infrared signature.
Conclusion
Although not much is known about Thanatos as of yet, it is clear that its development is right on track to go into service as an asset in the future’s network-centered warfare. Kratos said it has strong interest in the Increment 2 of the CCA, according to Aviation Week.
Fendley, explaining that CCAs are meant to augment the work of 5th gen aircraft and offboard systems from 4th gen aircraft, mentioned that these UCAVs would include a “high initial focus” on electronic warfare. However, CCAs could also have a broader role, as Fendley also referred to the work being done with the XQ-58 Valkyrie which is currently focused on “integrating different operational mission sets” in testing.
In fact, Kratos has extensive experience in developing advanced UCAVs, as shown in their previous products, which includes the XQ-58A Valkyrie high-subsonic unmanned aerial vehicle currently in testing with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps. The low-cost Valkyrie could serve in surveillance, reconnaissance and long-range combat missions. It is intended to serve as an unmanned escort or loyal wingman aircraft to a manned fighter aircraft in future wars.
Fendley further stated that the Marines expressed interest in ultimately fielding a system like the XQ-58. The Valkyrie’s runway independence is one of the aspects that is being considered operationally relevant, as it can be launched both with the use of rockets or a trolley and in future with a standard landing gear.
“The DOD has come back and said runway independence is king,” said Fendley. “It’s gone back and forth, back and forth, but now it’s pretty much in ink.”
It’s not yet clear if Thanatos will feature similar runway independence capabilities, although it is likely. However, Fendley told Aviation Week the company hopes to learn more about the system as it evolves over the next 6-12 months, so it is possible more info will be released as testing progresses.
