US Jet fighter drones can be sold to some European and Asian countries

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:KTOS) has received U.S. State Department approval to market its Mako High Performance Jet Tactical Unmanned Aerial System to certain European and Asia Pacific region countries.

The XQ-222 Valkyrie and UTAP-22 Mako are relatively cheap drones that could double as a fighter pilot’s expendable wingmen in future wars.

The Mako is a highly maneuverable unmanned aircraft, capable of carrying and operating weapons and advanced sensor systems, which has flown in multiple large-scale military exercises and could soon be put into production for combat use.

Kratos UAVs are being built to fly just under the speed of sound — nearly 700 miles per hour for the Mako and about 50 mph slower for the Valkyrie — and mimic the capabilities of jets like the Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II.

With a length of 30 feet, the Valkyrie boasts a big bomb bay, the ability to climb twice as high in the sky as the Predator and a fuel range of nearly 3,500 miles.

The UTAP-22 has an operational ceiling of 50,000 feet and a top speed exceeding .9 Mach. It uses a minimal footprint rocket assisted launch and precision parachute recovery; the Kratos UTAP-22 solution can operate in austere locations without a runway.

The versatile design of the Kratos UTAP-22 supports various mission requirements by accepting a wide array of internal and external payloads. The large, configurable auxiliary bays provide up to 8.5 cubic feet of payload volume.

The Valkyrie and the Mako will retail between $2 million to $3 million each. They’re cheap enough to be used in swarms orchestrated by the pilot of a regular fighter.