This drone, designed by the American company Kratos, bears the disastrous name Thanatos. Stealth could well join the ranks of combat drones in the coming years as the wingman of a fighter or bomber.
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It bears the ominous name Thanatos, the personification of death, and is the stealth combat drone project of the American company Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. The defense industrialist has just presented the first graphical representation of the aircraft, whose technical characteristics apart from its camouflage, little is known. We observe a nose that resembles a shovel, the absence of a tail and fin. So many elements that make it possible to reduce the aircraft’s radar signature. We also see two mixed air inlets in the fuselage to supply the engine. However, it is difficult to know whether the drone has two reactors. Its wings are diamond-shaped. An architecture designed to reduce air resistance at subsonic and supersonic speeds. In other words: The unmanned aircraft should fly at high speed while remaining discreet.
A collaborative stealth drone project
If Kratos is not currently specifying who his customer will be, the presence of US Air Force markings is a sufficient indication, even if it is clear that no contract has currently been signed. In any case, the aircraft fits perfectly into the American Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. This means it would be designed to fight jointly with other drones and fighter aircraft. In addition to equipping ammunition-carrying drones, the program also includes components for electronic warfare. We could therefore find this Thanatos as the wingman of the F-35 or the future B-21, whose prototype is gradually being revealed. Given the CCA specifications, we can expect a drone with great autonomy. Kratos is not the only one offering drones in this category, but its positioning with Thanatos shows that the manufacturer is confident of securing a contract with the American Air Force. Kratos already has an advantage with its XQ-58A Valkyrie, which is still being tested by the US Air Force. Like him, the Thanatos will be very technologically advanced. On the other hand, the manufacturer’s aircraft are also more expensive than what the competition can offer.