Kratos is developing a new $8 million stealth drone. Known as the ‘Demogorgon’, it could be connected to the Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program, which was previously revealed by the company.
The program was listed in a slide included in an investor presentation and was first noticed by The War Zone.
The slide details Kratos’ plan for tactical drone production and consists of five programs, including the XQ-58 Valkyrie, the UTAP-22 Mako, and the Airwolf, the company’s three loyal wingman projects.
The remaining programs are codenamed Thanatos, a secretive development that has already been revealed, but lacks any concrete information, and Demogorgon.
According to The War Zone’s Brett Tingley, it is likely that Demogorgon’s background is in the OBSS program, which aims to develop a sensor-focused aircraft to operate in conjunction with other assets, relaying information to them.
The aircraft would supplement both manned and unmanned counterparts with an array of specialized sensors. Yet, at a cost of $8 million, and compared with Valkyrie ($4 million) and Mako ($1.3 million), shows that it can hardly be considered an attritable platform whose loss would be considered acceptable.
Various Kratos-developed drones are often presented as posterchildren for the concept of attritability. Semi-autonomous low-cost drones, such as the XQ-58, could be almost as capable as regular fighter jets, but much cheaper and unmanned. This would allow the jets to be sacrificed if the necessity should arise.
The Skyborg program, in which Kratos participates, aims to develop a family of such drones and equip the US Air Force with them.
The Demogorgon, if it really is connected to the OBSS, would function differently, signifying a step into a new market for Kratos.