U.S. Army Seeks Sources for 5GAT Prototype

The prototype could be used for flight testing of fifth-generation fighters.

Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 02:28 PM ET

Verified

The SSN marks a circling back to a previous program that resulted in the 2020 delivery of the first fifth-generation aircraft (5GAT) at the Army's Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. [Courtesy: U.S. Department of Defense]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. Army is conducting market research for a new affordable, unmanned, low-observable, full-scale aerial target prototype to test fifth-generation aircraft.
The prototype must cost under $50 million for two development aircraft and less than $10 million per unit flyaway, while mimicking fifth-generation fighter radar and infrared signatures.
This initiative revives a previous 5GAT program that was canceled after an accident, with the technical design package from the earlier effort to be shared with potential bidders.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The U.S. Army is conducting market research to identify potential candidates capable of developing a full-scale aerial target prototype for fifth-generation aircraft testing, it announced.

“The anticipated contract is for development and integration testing of an affordable, unmanned, low observable, model-based, full-scale aerial target prototype aircraft/s and support of the government-led ground and flight testing,” Army Contracting Command-Orlando said in a Sources Sought Notice (SSN) issued this week.