CCA Loyal Wingmen Drones To Cost Quarter To Third Of An F-35
We are slowly learning more about the Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative, including cost and operational performance targets.
BY
JOSEPH TREVITHICK
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PUBLISHED NOV 13, 2023 8:39 PM EST
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has offered new details about his service's plans for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
FranticGoat
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said his service is aiming for its future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones that will fight alongside crewed aircraft to each cost as little as a quarter of the current price of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Kendall offered this and other details about the CCA program during a public event today at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank in Washington, D.C.
The CCA effort is centered on the acquisition of at least a thousand advanced uncrewed aircraft with high degrees of autonomy designed to work closely together with crewed combat jets. The program is part of the Air Force's larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) modernization initiative that also includes the development of a new crewed sixth-generation combat jet, weapons, electronic warfare suites, sensors, battle management capabilities, engines, and other systems.
Kendall and other senior Air Force officials regularly describe these uncrewed aircraft as a critical component of how the service will conduct operations, especially in a high-end fight against an opponent like China, and achieve critical "affordable mass" in the future.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/cca-loyal-wingmen-drones-to-cost-quarter-to-third-of-an-f-35
