America’s next-generation fighter jets and their “loyal wingmen” drones could counter China’s fleet size advantage and widen the operational range for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific, according to analysts.
Advertisement
But they also say that China is catching up in this area of military technology, and the gap is “narrowing”.
General David Allvin, chief of staff of the US Air Force, posted a photo of the YFQ-42A unmanned combat aerial vehicle on social media on Monday in the “world’s first look” at the UCAV. The drone is part of the air force’s collaborative combat aircraft programme, or CCA, which Allvin said would “prove not only cost-effective, but truly lethal”. “No doubts these uncrewed fighters will put our adversaries on notice!” he wrote.
The UCAV is being developed by General Atomics and is one of two designs in the first phase of the CCA programme, which aims to develop drones to augment crewed fighter aircraft in air-to-air missions.
The US Air Force said earlier this month that it had begun ground testing of the two initial CCA designs, unveiling images of Anduril’s YFQ-44A – the other drone being developed under the programme.
Their propulsion systems, avionics, autonomy integration and ground control interfaces are being put to the test to see how they perform, inform future design decisions and prepare for flight testing later this year. If that goes to plan, production is expected to take place in 2026 along with development of the second phase designs.
Advertisement
Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst and managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, said the first two designs were “primarily for relatively simple strike missions, or for basic air-to-air missile carriage”.