The second version of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft should have more capability than the first but mustn't be an "exquisite" and expensive platform that would defeat the notion of "affordable mass," outgoing Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said.
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Outgoing Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall thinks accelerating the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program will be his biggest legacy, as they will be "transformative" of how the service fights.
The Air Force has a word of caution for those who are urging that autonomous systems supplant crewed platforms: we still need a human in the loop.
The Air Force still hasn’t set the requirements for the second increment of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, service acquisition executive Andrew Hunter said, leaving decisions about the project to the incoming Trump administration.The service has already punted decisions on the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter ...
The Air Force Global Strike Command is considering long-range, autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft as partners for its bombers but is waiting to see how they prove out with the fighter force first, the head of the command said Dec. 5.
The Air Force is looking to Collaborative Combat Aircraft to not only achieve affordable mass for air superiority, but as a model to shift acquisition emphasis from sustainment to design.
The blue ribbon panel that is set to determine the fate of the Air Force’s future manned fighter will provide its recommendations by the end of the year, the service’s top officer said Oct. 25.
Lockheed Martin is investing in new technologies to enable its F-35 fighters to easily control and interact with up to eight autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft—and planning to bid in the next-round of the Air Force's autonomous drone program, company officials told investors during an Oct. 22 ...
The wreckage of one of Russia’s newest stealth drones is now in the hands of the Ukrainian forces—a potential intelligence windfall for that country and its partners—after a Russian fighter chased, then shot it down over Ukrainian territory Oct. 5.
The Air Force thinks Collaborative Combat Aircraft can be bought for as little as $1,200 per pound—about a third of the cost of crewed fighters—but mission equipment needs to be aligned to that lower price.