{"id":30170,"date":"2020-05-04T22:30:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T22:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:29:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:29:59","slug":"boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Boeing is set to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/avalon\/2019\/02\/27\/boeing-unveils-loyal-wingman-drone\/\" target=\"_blank\">roll out the first \u201cLoyal Wingman\u201d drone<\/a> for the Royal Australian Air Force during a Tuesday morning ceremony, putting the RAAF high on the list of countries experimenting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/air\/2019\/03\/14\/introducing-skyborg-your-new-ai-wingman\/\" target=\"_blank\">with autonomous aircraft<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis a truly historic moment for our country and for Australian defense innovation,\u201d said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. \u201cThe Loyal Wingman will be pivotal to exploring the critical capabilities our Air Force needs to protect our nation and its allies into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2019\/09\/19\/the-us-navys-new-autonomous-refueling-drone-takes-historic-first-flight\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MQ-25_FF_3.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The US Navy\u2019s new autonomous refueling drone takes historic first flight<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. Navy&#039;s MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueling drone took its first flight Sept. 19, a historic step toward integrating an unmanned aircraft into the service&#039;s powerful strike arm.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RAAF plans to buy three drones, which Boeing calls the Airpower Teaming System, as part of the Loyal Wingman Advanced Development Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over a series of flight tests and demonstrations, the RAAF hopes to figure out how to best integrate drones with fighter jets and other combat aircraft, allowing the air force to keep pilots safe by putting lower cost unmanned assets at risk during a fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAutonomy is a big element of this, as well as the incorporation of artificial intelligence. Those two elements combined enable us to support existing forces,\u201d said Jerad Hayes, Boeing\u2019s senior director for autonomous aviation and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ATS is semi-autonomous, meaning that fighter pilots will not have to remotely control the maneuvers of the drone, said Shane Arnott, Boeing\u2019s ATS program director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you are teaming, say with a Super Hornet, they don\u2019t have the luxury during combat maneuvers or operations to be remotely piloting another aircraft while doing their own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one of the biggest technical questions still remains: How much data should be transferred from the ATS to the cockpit of the manned aircraft controlling it, and when does that turn into information overload? That question is one Boeing wants to answer more definitively once ATS makes its first flight later this year and moves into its experimentation phase, Arnott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s a lot for us to figure out [on] what\u2019s that right level of information feed and direction. One of the great benefits of working with the Royal Australian Air Force is having the real operators [give feedback],\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have all the answers yet. We have a lot of understanding through our surrogate simulator and surrogate testing that we\u2019re doing, but we will prove that out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing first introduced the Airpower Teaming System at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon in February 2019, when the company unveiled a full-scale model. Since then, the company has moved quickly to fabricate the first of three aircraft, completing the fuselage structure this February. In April, the aircraft stood on its own wheels for the first time and powered on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ATS air vehicle is 38 feet long, with a removable nose that can be packed with mission-specific sensors and other payloads. Throughout the design process, Boeing simulated a \u201cdigital twin\u201d of the aircraft that allowed it to virtualize the operation of the aircraft, as well as how it would be produced and maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also saved money by incorporating resin-infused composite structures, including one that is the largest piece Boeing has ever manufactured using that technique, Hayes said. That large structure snaps into another to form the plane\u2019s wings, cutting down on the manpower needed to fabricate the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the drone\u2019s sleek, twin-tailed design is simple, with only four moving surfaces, it was carefully composed to optimize the aircraft\u2019s survivability, maneuverability and cost, Arnott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Arnott wouldn\u2019t talk about the stealth features of the aircraft, he noted that \u201cthere was a lot of thought put into getting that right balance of \u2018good enough\u2019 across the board, and [radar] signature is obviously an aspect, and affordability is a big one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing officials have also declined to comment on the price of the aircraft, but Arnott and Hayes made it clear that Boeing intends to keep it cost-competitive with its main competitor, Kratos Defense and Security\u2019s XQ-58 Valkyrie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force has expressed interest in procuring Valkyrie for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2019\/05\/22\/under-skyborg-program-f-35-and-f-15ex-jets-could-control-drone-sidekicks\/\" target=_blank>the loyal wingman role<\/a> and to host communications relay payloads that would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/air\/2020\/01\/22\/the-us-air-force-tested-its-advanced-battle-management-system-heres-what-worked-and-what-didnt\/\" target=_blank>allow the F-35 and F-22 to share data stealthily<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing is also engaged with the U.S. military about potential uses of the ATS, Hayes asid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe see the Airpower Teaming System platform as capable of going against many different mission sets, and as such, we\u2019re engaging across the Department of Defense to understand their specific mission need, what their requirements are for those, and understanding exactly how the Airpower Teaming System fits those,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nose \u2014 which is 8.5 feet long with more than 90k cubic inches volume \u2014 is key to the company\u2019s strategy to sell the system outside of Australia, Arnott said. Boeing envisions working with international customers to create customized modular payloads that could be built with the help of indigenous suppliers, thus increasing its appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe industrial aspect of this is of a lot of interest for a number of countries,\u201d said Arnott. \u201cBeing able to do meaningful work on the systems to the extent of creating whole new payloads or role capability is of great interest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","left-column","home","middle-column","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,45,160,11,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-30170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MOGE5WGEFZGRNIE3JGWBLGC24Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-04T22:30:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:29:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2020-05-04T22:30:51+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:29:59+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 858,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                \"Asia Pacific\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Global\",\n\t                \"Industry\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2020-05-04T22:30:51+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:29:59+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/04\\\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"air\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone - Defense News","description":"The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone","og_description":"The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2020-05-04T22:30:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T22:29:59+00:00","author":"Valerie Insinna","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Valerie Insinna","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone","datePublished":"2020-05-04T22:30:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:29:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/"},"wordCount":858,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Asia Pacific","Daily News Roundup","Global","Industry","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/","name":"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-04T22:30:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:29:59+00:00","description":"The company is cruising toward a first flight later this year","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/04\/boeing-rolls-out-australias-first-loyal-wingman-combat-drone\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Air Warfare","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/","ad_zone":"air"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Boeing rolls out Australia\u2019s first \u2018Loyal Wingman\u2019 combat drone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1_ATS-Loyal-Wingman1.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30187,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30170\/revisions\/30187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30170"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=30170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}