Role & capabilities
- One-way aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- One-way aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- NCSIST and Kratos
- Origin / production countries
- Taiwan / United States
- Other names
- Mighty Hornet 4; MH IV
- Variants / configurations
- Mighty Hornet IV; other numbered Mighty Hornet designs are separate
- Operators / programme customers
- No operational operator established in reviewed primary source
Evidence & current status
Joint development and aircraft lineage are developer-confirmed. Operational acceptance and a dedicated performance baseline remain unverified.
Mighty Hornet IV is identified by NCSIST as a joint development with Kratos. The institute describes an aircraft derived from the MQM-178 Firejet and adapted with its own mission payload, electro-optical equipment and data-link modules. This gives the project an identifiable industrial and airframe lineage, while distinguishing it from a locally developed aircraft with no partner relationship.
The current product page describes modular payload arrangements and transportable system packaging, but does not publish a complete performance table or a customer acceptance date. Consequently, the baseline Firejet's advertised endurance, mass or range is not automatically reproduced as a Mighty Hornet IV specification. Changing mission equipment can change an aircraft's configuration and published performance.
The record is kept at development status because the reviewed primary account establishes the programme but not an operational fleet. Other Mighty Hornet numbered models are separate designs and should receive their own specifications. Future updates should establish a dated trial, production or acceptance milestone and identify the particular version to which any numerical claims apply.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Aircraft derived from the MQM-178 Firejet | Lineage is confirmed; parent-platform performance is not inherited. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Electro-optical mission equipment | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | NCSIST data-link modules | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
Suggest a correction to this entry →
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.