The accelerated development of autonomous aerial warfare is no longer on the horizon it is happening in real time. “Now we have two prototypes of Collaborative Combat Aircraft,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin stated earlier this year. “They were on paper for less than two years ago, and they will be ready to fly this summer.” That sentence expresses the sense of urgency with which the United States, and a number of other nations, are working toward crewed-uncrewed teaming as the backbone of future air superiority.
1. The Collaborative Combat Aircraft Vision
The U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program will match manned fighters with autonomous wingmen to carry sensors, jammers, and weapons. The initial flight-test prototypes General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A are due in 2025, with up to 100 to 150 Increment 1 aircraft planned before the end of the decade. Long-term, thousands of CCAs will be envisioned, sacrificing perfect stealth to low cost for voluminous mass to fill contested environments. Wargames have demonstrated that banks of cheaper, mass-produced drones can beat small squadrons of advanced stealth fighters in broad theatres like the Pacific.
2. Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat: Combat-Proven and Modular
Australia’s Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, now well over 100 test flights, is proving to be a benchmark for loyal wingman design. During a recent trial, one operator onboard an E-7A Wedgetail directed several Ghost Bats two real and one simulated performing “family-of-systems integration” and the robustness of its open systems architecture, said Boeing’s Glen Ferguson. The unmanned system’s modularity in the nose section enables quick swaps between payloads, from infrared search and track (IRST) sensors to electronic warfare packages, to operate as a forward sensor node, decoy, or strike platform. Live-fire missile tests are scheduled for late 2025.
3. India’s HAL CATS Warrior: Indigenous Combat Autonomy
India’s HAL CATS Warrior, twin-engine stealthy UCAV, is pushing forward toward its maiden flight with the successful ground run of its upgraded PTAE-W turbofans in November 2024. The Warrior, configured to operate in tandem with Tejas, AMCA, and Su-30 MKI combat aircraft, can carry as much as 650 kg of weapon load, like Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons and ASRAAM missiles, over an 800 km strike radius. Its AI-based avionics enable autonomous route planning, threat recognition, and strike. HAL’s ₹390 crore investment in the Warrior and ₹700 crore in the larger CATS program reflects India’s determination to develop a sovereign loyal wingman capability.
4. AI and Autonomy in Combat Decision-Making
The use of artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the role of human pilots. Under DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution program, AI-piloted planes such as the X-62A VISTA have already performed elaborate dogfights against manned adversaries. Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACPs) such as these are able to convert high-level mission intent into autonomous activity, with autonomy levels available from “human on the loop” management to possible “human out of the loop” deadly engagements. NATO’s 2023 Autonomy Guidelines and DARPA’s ASIMOV program are attempting to formalize moral and legal boundaries into measurable AI constraints.
5. Integration of Swarming and Electronic Warfare
Swarm tactics orchestrated action by tens or hundreds of networked drones are a key part of CCA doctrine. Air-launched loitering weapons like India’s CATS ALFA may engage in jamming, decoy, and strike missions with a mothership UCAV in coordination. In high-threat contexts, these swarms can saturate air defenses with sheer numbers, a lesson also learned from Ukraine’s experience using FPV drones to target Russian armor. Adding electronic warfare to such formations makes it even harder for the enemy to target and sensor-fuse these drones.
6. Runway Independence and Agile Combat Employment
To offset the weakness of fixed airbases, the U.S. Air Force is looking at air-launching CCAs from mother ships and configuring for short or unimproved runway use. Ideas include launching drones from B-21 bombers deep within contested airspaces or from cargo planes to generate unforeseen combat mass surges. This fits with Agile Combat Employment doctrine that scatters forces across austere locations to make it difficult for enemies to target them.
7. The Attritable Edge
Attritable UAVs, priced at $2–$20 million per aircraft, are designed for high-risk operations where loss is tolerated. With ranges of up to 3,000 nautical miles and payloads of 600–1,200 pounds, they can serve as decoys, jammers, or strike assets without the survivability needs and expense of fifth-generation combat jets. Their runway-independent launch and recovery systems make them particularly useful in missile-threatened environments.
8. Global Strategic Implications
From NATO’s interoperability challenges to China’s rapid advances in AI-enabled drone warfare, the global race for autonomous combat aircraft is as much about industrial capacity and alliance integration as it is about technology. As Gen. Allvin noted, the symbolic “fighter” designation for the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A signals a doctrinal shift “It means collaborative combat aircraft, it means human-machine teaming. We are developing those capabilities thinking, ‘mission first.”
The path is laid out future aerial combat will not be determined by the skill of human pilots or the stealth of manned aircraft, but by the integration of autonomous systems capable of multiplying power, taking risk, and changing more rapidly than enemies can react.
