AURORA, Colo.—Air & Space Forces Magazine sat down with retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, to talk about the biggest themes from the 2025 AFA Warfare Symposium, from the new Trump administration’s focus on readiness, discussions about resources, and the Space Force’s future.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.