BLUF
Over the next five years, the US Air Force will retire twice as many fighter aircraft as it purchases. To address this, the military is collaborating with industry to design and produce an affordable 'Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)'.Summary
KEY POINTS:
- At least 1,000 drone wingmen to augment the piloted fighter fleet.
- 801 fighters (F-15C’s, A-10 Warthogs, and some less capable F-22’s and F-16’s) retired but only 345 F-35s and F-15EXs added by 2028.
- Very expensive Next-Generation Air Dominance fighters won’t arrive until the end of the decade, at the earliest.
- Project Venom aims to refine autonomous software and, the Experimental Operations Unit aims to develop the tactics and procedures to incorporate CCA’s into a squadron.
- Industry is to come up with some drone prototypes so the US Air Force can start experimenting with how they would be used.
References
- Drones 01: COLLECTION- The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- MAY 2023 The US Air Force has big plans for the next-generation drones that will fight alongside its fighters and bombers-Insider
- MAY 2023 Drones, planes need new weapons and sensors, says special ops official-Air Force Times
