XQ-58A would be low cost, at least in Pentagon terms—so low cost that it would be what the laboratory team called “attritable.” In other words, the Air Force could afford to buy a lot of them and lose a lot of them in combat. The XQ-58A is expected to cost several million dollars per aircraft once sensors and weapons are added, meaning that the Air Force could buy roughly a dozen or two XQ-58As for the price of one F-35A.
