These unmanned loyal wingman jets are expected to fly alongside crewed sixth-generation fighters in a “wingman” drone capacity.
The U.S. Air Force’s journey to field the world’s first-ever sixth-generation fighter program appears to be making progress. In early May, the service initiated ground testing for Next-Generation Air Dominance’s (NGAD) Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Integrating autonomous systems into NGAD has remained a key tenant of the Air Force’s sixth-generation strategy. Now that formal testing has begun, these highly specialized “wingmen drones” could be taking to the skies in a matter of months.
Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Allvin revealed this milestone in a post on X (formerly Twitter). In footage attached to the post, hangar doors are depicted opening up to showcase Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A. Allvin added, “Ground testing is officially underway for our Collaborative Combat Aircraft program! This is a huge milestone and another step toward first flight and rapid delivery to our warfighters … These unmanned fighters are going to be bada**!”
Earlier this year, the Air Force announced the designation of two prototypes within its CCA program. In addition to the YFQ-44A showcased in Gen. Allvin’s video on X is the General Atomics YFQ-42A. The development and designation of these uncrewed drones is historic for the U.S. military, as it represents a “new chapter of aerial warfare,” as the service puts it. CCAs were conceptualized as a cost and life-saving measure as part of the Air Force’s NGAD program. These unmanned jets are expected to fly alongside crewed sixth-generation fighters in a “wingman” drone capacity. These cutting-edge aerial weapons will feature a host of emerging technologies such as machine learning and AI to maximize performance and strength. The Air Force first announced its plan to procure at least 1,000 CCAs as part of its NGAD program back in 2023.
What About the Rest of NGAD?
While highly autonomous drones will play a leading role in the service’s next-gen platform, the manned component of NGAD will be just as essential. Newly designated as the F-47 by President Donald Trump, the sixth-generation aircraft is expected to feature new technologies in terms of propulsion, stealth, and advanced weapons when it reaches operational capacity. The jet is derived from a 2014 Air Dominance Initiative Study spearheaded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). While the sixth-gen platform will undoubtedly be equipped with top-of-the-line sensors, avionics, and data-link connectivity, the F-47 will also come with a high price tag. The inclusion of CCAs into the series will in turn reduce overall costs. As stated by former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, “The expectation is that these (unmanned) aircraft can be designed to be less survivable and less capable, but still bring an awful lot to the fight in a mixture that the enemy has a very hard time sorting out and dealing with.” He added, “You can even intentionally sacrifice some of them to draw fire, if you will, to make the enemy expose himself.”
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
