A program meant to pave the way for autonomous combat flying technologies took a step forward April 1 with the arrival of the last fighter jet to complete the VENOM test fleet.
VENOM
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall caught a ride in the front seat of a modified, artificial intelligence-piloted F-16 on May 2, a high-profile show of confidence in the service’s autonomous technologies—and another key step in maturing that technology for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
An autonomously-piloted F-16 will fly this year with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on board, giving the service’s top civilian an up-close look at a critical effort for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
Three F-16 fighters landed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., on April 1. Soon enough, they'll be modified and flying again to test autonomous technologies key to Collaborative Combat Aircraft and other key programs, the Air Force said April 2.
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.
Kendall has posited a force of at least 1,000 CCAs, with the first ones ready for duty within the next six years. That timeline demands a robust and fast-paced test program.
Testing Collaborative Combat Aircraft—the unmanned, autonomous aircraft that will fly alongside crewed fighters with the goal of beefing up the future Air Force fleet—will require an unprecedented integration of effort from engineers and operators, leaders of the service’s test enterprise said in a recent interview ...
CCA's take shape; Modernizing the Battle Network; Scheduling the new nukes; CMSSF Towberman bids farewell.
About four dozen companies are gearing up for a technology competition unlike most in the Pentagon as they vie for spots in the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System. ABMS is the Air Force’s multibillion-dollar vision for a massive network of data-processing software, cloud storage, ...
