FlightGlobal reports that three major US aerospace manufacturers “have confirmed they will participate in a US Air Force (USAF) effort to develop autonomous fighter aircraft.” Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman “have all been selected for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, the companies tell FlightGlobal on 26 January.” The three defense giants “join start-up Anduril, which confirmed its participation in the effort on 25 January.” The CCA program “aims to deliver pilotless jet aircraft that can be produced at a relatively low cost and fielded in large numbers to supplement crewed fighters.” The USAF “plans to team CCAs with a secretive future sixth-generation fighter platform, known as Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD).”
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Tag: Collaborative Combat Aircraft
USAF Wants Early CCA to Have Range Equal to or Beyond That of Fighter Aircraft
Aviation Week reported that the US Air Force “wants its early Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to have range equal to or beyond that of fighter aircraft, with potentially aerial refueling capacity in the first increment.” Thomas Lawhead, the acting head of Air Force Futures and Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, Integration and Requirements, said on November 15 that the first increment of CCA will have range “relatively the same as the current fighter fleet, potentially a little bit longer.” The USAF is “now working through concepts of employment based on that range, and the uncrewed systems’ ability to provide missions such as electronic warfare, off-board sensing and additional munitions. While future tranches will be aerial refuelable, Lawhead said, there is potential for the first aircraft to have refueling capability ‘depending on the offer.’” The USAF is also “working to keep the costs of CCAs and related mission systems down as much as it can while still meeting operational needs. Kendall has said the cost would be about one-third to one-quarter of an F-35.”
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