Boeing Australia Rolls Out First Loyal Wingman Drone

By Larry E. Nazimek                                                                                                                                                             C  Larry E. Nazimek, 2020

On May 5, 2020, Boeing Australia rolled out the first (of three) prototype Loyal Wingman drone, that will be the foundation of Boeing’s Airpower Teaming System (ATS). This prototype will undergo ground testing, followed by taxi tests, and later fly for the first time some time this year.

It may seem highly unusual for some Americans to see Boeing making an aircraft for another country as opposed to making it for the U. S. with the idea of exporting it elsewhere, but it is not unprecedented. The Wright Bros. initially wanted to sell their aircraft to the U. S. Army, but when the Army expressed little interest, they took their plane to Europe. This aircraft will be the first in 50 years to be designed, engineered, and manufactured in Australia. It will eventually be sold to other allied nations.

This 38-foot-long drone will have performance comparable to modern day fighters, with a range of more than 2,000 NM. With five different modular noses, it will be able to perform in a variety of missions, including reconnaissance and electronic warfare.

In one of its primary functions, it will accompany RAAF fighters like the F/A-18 or F-35A on attack missions, thereby confusing enemy defenses. They would not, however, be controlled by the fighters, as the pilots of these single-seat aircraft are already very busy.

There are scenarios where these drones would be controlled by an E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft. The E-7A is a Boeing 737 variant designed for the RAAF and is comparable to our E-3 Sentry AWACS, but it has a fixed active electronically scanned array radar antenna instead of a rotating one. (A wedgetail is an Australian bird with a wedge shaped tail.) It is also being flown by the Air Forces of the UK, South Korea, and Turkey.

In the rollout ceremony, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared: “This is a truly historic moment for our country and for Australian defense innovation. The Loyal Wingman will be pivotal to exploring the critical capabilities our Air Force needs to protect our nation and its allies into the future.”