The Air Force’s Next-Gen Fighter Is Getting Its Own Drone Army

[rangerrebew]

September 23, 2022 

The Air Force’s Next-Gen Fighter Is Getting Its Own Drone Army

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says that the Next Generation Air Dominance "family of systems" will likely control as many as five drones at one time.

by Kris Osborn

The U.S. Air Force is building manned variants of the emerging sixth-generation fighter jet as part of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says that the family of systems will likely control as many as five drones at one time, a development that will introduce new tactics, expand the mission scope of a stealth fighter jet, and enable dispersed yet networked weapons and surveillance nodes to increase attack and reconnaissance options.
 
Many of the details and exact configurations of this small family of manned and unmanned platforms are either not available for security reasons or still evolving. The unmanned systems being built to support sixth-generation manned aircraft are likely to emerge much sooner than an operational manned variant. Of course, the requirements for the unmanned systems, called Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), are still in flux. Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics, told reporters that the drones are being built according to key operational imperatives.

 “We need an aircraft that can perform operations in denied airspace and make sure we have the ability to establish freedom of maneuver. We’ve had successful uncrewed platforms going back decades. It’s challenging to have a platform able to operate in denied air space,” Hunter said.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/air-force%E2%80%99s-next-gen-fighter-getting-its-own-drone-army-204958

[rangerrebew]

Are fighter cockpits becoming too busy and complicated causing pilots to be less effective?

[Smokin Joe]

Are fighter cockpits becoming too busy and complicated causing pilots to be less effective?

Someone is going to need a weapons officer on board if they are going to fly the plane and effectively fight using a drone swarm, too. And a lot of computer support, which concerns me, considering the Chinese bought that 'farm' about 12 miles from where a lot of drone work is being done in ND.

If the Chinese intercept and decode the commands and controls for our drones, then the battlespace could get considerably more complicated, if not outright more hostile. It might be possible to make our drones collide, suicide into our ships or troops, or even planes, or otherwise engage in hostile action towards our forces.