As the Air Force races to develop and field new semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the service is also rethinking its production plan for CCAs—how many and how quickly—to replace the notional figures set several years ago.
McAleese Defense Conference
The Pentagon’s top financial officer said March 17 the department’s fiscal 2027 budget request may be released in just a few weeks— but seemed to acknowledged that the projected $1.5 trillion topline of that request will face political pushback.
The Air Force’s sixth-generation F-47 and the Navy’s F/A-XX fighter won’t be “available” until the mid-2030s, a leading congressman said March 17, which will require the services to keep older jets flying in the interim.
The CCA is envisioned as an uncrewed, relatively low-observable aircraft that can escort or coordinate with crewed aircraft, performing missions such as electronic warfare, defense suppression, as a communications node or as a flying extra magazine of weapons.
WORLD: USAF Fighter Mix Changing at Kadena; $9 Billion in F-22 Updates; CCAs Arrive Before NGAD; Re-engined B-52 becomes B-52J; T-7 Delayed til 2025; A-10s, E-3s to the Boneyard.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall clearly regrets that the service isn’t pursuing an advanced technology engine for the F-35.