DARPA LongShot

LongShot is a DARPA Tactical Technology Office programme to design, build and flight test an uncrewed air-launched vehicle that can carry and employ current air-to-air weapons, extending engagement range for the aircraft that launches it. Phase 1 design work began in 2021 with General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems won Phase 2 in March 2023 and the final Phase 3 in July 2023 as sole prime contractor. The demonstrator is designated X-68A, and in February 2026 DARPA reported completed full-scale wind tunnel, parachute recovery and weapons-release tests, with ground and integration testing under way toward flight tests from an F-15 as early as the end of 2026.