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.
There are a lot of new demands on the government-industry propulsion enterprise—ranging from exquisite new fighter engines to cheap, off-the-shelf powerplants for drones—that will require sustained support, experts said.
Lockheed Martin, having “gold-plated” its initial bid for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, will focus on lower cost, more attritable aircraft in its proposal for the second increment, the head of the company’s legendary Skunk Works division told reporters Sept. 17.
As the Air Force eyes hundreds if not thousands of unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft to supplement its manned fighter fleet, startup Anduril offered a rare glimpse at the kind of autonomy software that could undergird CCAs—one human providing relatively simple directions for multiple “robotic wingmen” ...
The Air Force will display full-scale models of the two competitors for Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program at next week's AFA Air, Space & Cyber Conference.
Northrop Grumman said it put a pilot on its new Model 437—ostensibly an autonomous craft—to speed testing, as it won’t need segregated airspace usually required for uninhabited aircraft. A new video of the first flight emphasizes the speed at which the aircraft was fabricated and ...
The Air Force is reconsidering how it gains air superiority—and whether it needs a manned sixth-generation fighter to achieve it, acquisition boss Andrew P. Hunter said.
The Northrop Grumman/Scaled Composites Model 437 Vanguard made its first flight Aug. 29. The rapid-prototype jet, which may be aimed at the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment II program, demonstrates the maturity of the company's "digital ecosystem," Northrop said.