US Air Force wants drone wingmen to bring ‘mass’ airpower on a budget
By Stephen Losey
Thursday, May 11
The Royal Australian Air Force has experimented with teaming drones up with piloted aircraft through its Loyal Wingman program, which uses Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat. The U.S. Air Force is interested in Australia's experiments with the Ghost Bat as it considers how its own program will take shape. (Boeing Australia)
WASHINGTON — If the Air Force has to fight a major adversary such as China in years to come, a top general said, it must bring “mass” in its airpower — without breaking the bank.
But piloted fighters alone won’t be enough to maintain the United States’ prized air superiority, Lt. Gen. Richard Moore, deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, said in an interview with Defense News. Key aircraft in its fleet such as the F-15C are rapidly aging, and the service is on track to retire more than twice as many fighters as it buys over the next five years.
That’s why Moore said it’s vital for the Air Force to build and field a planned fleet of at least 1,000 drone wingmen to augment its piloted fighter fleet. And the service is working to pull together industry ideas for so-called collaborative combat aircraft and its own experiments to figure out how to make this a reality.
“The picture here is changing, and what’s changing the picture is CCAs,” Moore said.
https://www.militarytimes.com/unmanned/2023/05/11/us-air-force-wants-drone-wingmen-to-bring-mass-airpower-on-a-budget/
