Marine XQ-58 Valkyries Will Launch Via Rockets Or Runways
Kratos has confirmed to TWZ that the landing gear-equipped version of its XQ-58 Valkyrie drone being developed for the U.S. Marines will still be able to make rocket-assisted takeoffs from static launchers. This means the new addition to the stealthy Valkyrie family will retain a valuable degree of runway independence, though they will have to touch down on a runway at the end of their sortie. This opens up additional operational possibilities, though there are also tradeoffs.
TWZ had reached out to Kratos yesterday for more details about the CTOL version of the XQ-58. This followed the announcement of a team-up between that company and Northrop Grumman to develop and deliver Valkyrie variants to the U.S. Marine Corps under the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR) Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Kratos first disclosed that it was working on a Valkyrie with built-in landing gear last year, and the company now says it is aiming for a first flight early this year.
“The initial aircraft for the MUX TACAIR CCA contract will be landing gear version Valkyries, which can take off and land conventionally, or be booster-launched and conventionally landed,” a Kratos spokesperson told us.
When asked if this meant the CTOL Valkyrie would be able to use existing static launchers or if it would require a new launch architecture for boosted takeoffs, that spokesperson also responded: “the same.”
“Unfortunately, [we] cannot share more,” they added when asked for further details about the ongoing development of the CTOL version of the XQ-58, though they did confirm the early 2026 target timeframe for a first flight.
The baseline Valkyrie design, which first flew in 2019, does not have landing gear and is designed to take off via the rocket-assisted method from static launchers. The drone is then recovered via parachute at the end of a sortie.
Before announcing plans for the CTOL version, Kratos had also unveiled a special launch trolley that allows variants without landing gear to take off from traditional runways, though not land back on them.
Kratos Valkyrie Trolley Launch System
Details about the CTOL configuration of the XQ-58 and its comparative capabilities to existing variants remain limited. There have been indications that the landing gear-equipped type may be very similar in many respects to earlier types, which is underscored now by the confirmation that it can still be launched via rocket boosters. Whether or not the CTOL version is larger and, if so, to what degree, is still unknown. That it can make use of existing static launchers would limit how much bigger it could be, both dimensionally and weight-wise. It is also unclear if the parachute recovery system could be fitted, if desired.
“You’ll be able to do a conventional takeoff and land with retractable gear,” Steve Fendley, president of the Unmanned Systems Division at Kratos, had told Aviation Week last year. “You give up a proportion of your payload volume of your internal payload, but you can still maintain all the external.”
Runway-independent configurations do present their own limitations when it comes to maximum takeoff weight, and, by extension, payload capacity, as well as range. Kratos has told TWZ in the past that the versions of the XQ-58 without landing gear get a boost “in the 10s of % for both fuel and payload capacity” just when using the aforementioned launch trolley, and that this “enables quite an advantage for [the] amount of payload and range / endurance of the system.”
What we now know is that the CTOL version offers a single platform with the flexibility to take off from conventional runways, which could allow for heavier overall weights, or to use the existing rocket-boosted method from a much wider array of potential operating locations. In a real-world operational scenario, the drones could fly a rocket-boosted mission to start, recover on a runway at a tertiary site, and then continue to fly sorties from there, or be deployed elsewhere. This would combine the benefits of runway independence, including the difficulties imposed on enemies trying to target what could be widely distributed launch points, during an initial wave, and the advantages offered by normal runway-centric tactical air operations for follow-on sorties.
Furthermore, the runway-independent launch capability would allow forward deployments virtually anywhere for use in that first-day-of-war context. It should be remembered here that Kratos has also previously shown a model of a static launcher for the Valkyrie that fits discreetly inside a standard shipping container.
An XQ-58 that can land like any other fixed-wing aircraft on a runway offers advantages for resetting the drones and getting them back into the fight. It takes far more time and effort to get runway-independent types ready for relaunch after they touch down via parachute. That method of landing also relies on airbags to cushion the impact, and a failure of that element of the system can lead to significant damage. There is, of course, always the potential for accidents while operating from traditional runways. Regardless, a Valkyrie that uses a runway should be able to achieve significantly higher sortie rates.
The CTOL variant’s flexibility could also have benefits outside of a tactical scenario. TWZ has previously noted that a landing gear-equipped version would be easier to integrate, overall, with other tactical air assets that rely on traditional runways, which would also be relevant for training and other day-to-day peacetime activities. That being said, a significant portion of the Marine Corps’ future CCA fleets, as well as those that the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy plan to acquire and field, may not ever be daily fliers.
There are still tradeoffs, especially if the CTOL version of the Valkyrie otherwise remains unchanged in many respects from previous versions. Kratos has been steadily working to expand the performance envelope of the XQ-58 design, but it has been made clear that some degree of internal volume has to be sacrificed to give the drone built-in landing gear. Even if the CTOL design is larger overall, the revised internal configuration could create different payload restrictions that might be further magnified when employed in a runway-independent mode. It’s also important to point out that the rocket-launched method makes use of expendable boosters, a steady supply of which is then required to support those operations.
The rocket boosters can be seen falling away after the launch of an XQ-58 in the video below.
Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie Test Flight
For the moment, the U.S. Marine Corps looks to be trying to find the optimal mix of flexibility for its future operational Valkyrie fleets. However, a key advantage of the XQ-58 has historically been its total lack of any need for a runway. TWZ has repeatedly highlighted the importance of that kind of total runway independence to the Corps’ still-evolving expeditionary and distributed concepts of operations, which focus heavily on the rapid establishment of forward operating bases in far-flung locales, especially remote islands with limited infrastructure. The Marines expect these operations to be regularly conducted within an adversary’s so-called “weapons engagement zone,” further underscoring the critical need for very high degrees of operational flexibility to survive, let alone fight effectively.
The Marine Corps could still acquire additional versions of the XQ-58 down the line, including fully runway-independent types, or add completely different designs to its future CCA fleets, giving it a further mix of capabilities. The Valkyrie was designed from the outset to be highly modular and to use open architecture systems, making it easier to integrate new and improved capabilities and functionality to existing examples, as well.
“The uncrewed weapons systems under development [as part of the MUX TACAIR program] will enhance Marine Corps Aviation’s lethality and ability to support the Stand-in Force (SiF) by delivering air-to-ground, reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities,” according to official budget documents released last year. “The Marine Corps will use a spiral approach for capability insertion into TACAIR. MUX TACAIR Increment I will rapidly accelerate the time between development and fielding, ensuring rapid and relevant capability delivery of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to the warfighter.”
The growing array of options for launching and recovering XQ-58 variants is something that could also easily appeal to other potential operations beyond the Marine Corps. The only other known operator of the Valkyrie currently is the U.S. Air Force, which oversaw the type’s first flight in 2019 and has been using the drones primarily for test and evaluation purposes since then.
XQ-58A Valkyrie Demonstrator Inaugural Flight
Kratos told Aviation Week yesterday that there is another opportunity for XQ-58 sales in the United States, but did not elaborate. The company is not among those known to be under contract now to develop concepts for carrier-based CCAs for the U.S. Navy. It may be one of the nine firms currently competing in the second phase, or Increment 2, of the U.S. Air Force’s CCA program, which that service has so far declined to name. Kratos was notably absent from Increment 1 of that program and had previously expressed interest in taking part in Increment 2.
Valkyrie has also begun making inroads overseas, and Kratos is now working with Airbus on a version for the German Air Force. Whether that will be a landing gear-equipped variant or not is unknown.
More details about the CTOL version of the XQ-58 may emerge as Kratos gets closer to a first flight and as work on the initial prototype for the Marine Corps proceeds. It is very possible, if not probable, that the first example of the CTOL configuration will be the one in the works now for the Marines. The service has previously said it hopes to receive its first MUX TACAIR CCA prototype before the end of the year.
If nothing else, it has been confirmed now that the CTOL type will have an added layer of flexibility by retaining a runway-independent launch capability.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com