Although
he’s generally satisfied with the range of weapons in his inventory, Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser said he’s anxious to get going on a new air superiority missile. “We need to move out on … a fifth-generation weapon for our fifth-generation fighters,” in the form of the DRADM, which stands for Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile. The DRADM is supposed to deliver sharp improvement increases over the existing AIM-9 and AIM-120 dogfight missiles, particularly in the terminal phase.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.