What about when the Army decides that its helicopters need wingmen? Well, that thinking is about to transition from conceptual into nascent stages of planning as a part of the military’s aviation transformation effort. For several years, a particular concept of operational military affairs-calling on manned fighters and autonomous drones as a sort of ‘loyal wingman’-was effectively a province owned and operated exclusively by Air Force high-altitude fighter jets. But that is about to change.
Senior aviation leaders discussed the vision at the annual conference of the Association of the U.S. Army, combining learnings from other branches with distinct Army needs. This is more than replicating what has to be done for unmanned fighter jets; rather, developing a platform that can fly at 100 feet altitude, match the speed of an attack helicopter, and function effectively in a contested environment. The response from the industry sector is underway-tiltrotor designs, VTOLs introduced inside Army requirements.
1. Army’s Shift towards Rotary-Winged Loyal Wingmen
“We are certainly building requirements on a Collaborative Combat Aircraft that’s suited to our ‘net’ in our helicopters,” said Brig. Gen. Cain Baker, while “Air Force requirements call for something that’s gonna fly real fast, fly real high,” the Army’s “needs are to fly real low, fly real slow, use terrain masking,” allowing it to “increase mass while also reduce the amount of aviators that are in the air” a “force multiplier in the Indo-Pacific or Europe.”
2. Other Services CCA Programs-What We Can Learn
Of these, the Air Force is furthest along with a projected production decision in FY2026, though flight tests of prototypes by Anduril and General Atomics are already underway. The Office of Naval Research is focused on enabling joint command-and-control for these unmanned wingmen for joint-process securing scenarios across both the Navy and Marine Corps. The Army is looking at these plans but is developing them to work in their world of helicopter engagements below trees at lower altitudes than 20,000 to 30,000 feet.
3. Integration with the Launched Effects Program
Major General Clair Gill characterized launched effects small drones that can launched in flight or by ground launchers until the Army has CCAs. Launched effects may conduct intelligence gathering, electronic attack, or deception missions. The Army is enabling the operation of launched effects in the short range, medium range, long range. Then there is the ultra-long range launched effect that is under consideration. CCAs resemble launched effects in their collaborative aspects. CCAs would be larger reused launched effects that might carry launched effects.
4. Industry Demonstrations of Short-Range Launched Effects
In August, the Army conducted a test with three tube-launched UAVs at Joint Base Lewis-McChord: RTX Coyote Block 3, Altius 600 by Anduril, and the Atlas from AEVEX. Those systems were evaluated for their operational capability range: from surveillance through precision strikes. Brigadier General David Phillips was quoted saying that “soldier feedback” at such operations would improve requirements and shape “warfighting concepts.”
5. Boeing Collaborative Transformational Rotorcraft
Boeing’s Phantom Works unveiled the tiltrotor concept design, which included combat and logistics models – named the Collaborative Combat Rotorcraft that would team AH-64 Apaches in combat missions – and the Collaborative Logistics Rotorcraft, which would team Chinook resupply missions enabled in contested environments. According to Boeing Vertical Lift chief engineer Chris Speights, there needs to be “relevant range” and weight in these collaborative systems for Boeing to reach a Group 4/5 sizing in their rapid field ability.
6. Sikorsky’s Nomad VTOL Drone
The Sikorsky Nomad series features rotor-blown wing technology for runway-independent flight. Nomads can be scaled from Group 3 to Group 4/5, designed for reconnaissance, light attack, and logistics roles. Larger aircraft have “10-plus hours of endurance and 1,000 miles” of range with Matrix autonomy. Nomad was termed a “force multiplier” for Black Hawk operations in the Indo-Pacific by Rich Benton.
7. U-HAWK: Autonomous Black Hawk for Logistics and Risk Reduction
Sikorsky’s U-HAWK gets rid of the UH-60L cockpit and replaces it with cargo space and MATRIX autonomy. It features pods designed for HIMARS, modular containers, or off-the-shelf ground vehicles. As Bentley said, it maintains current transmissions, engines, and rotor blades. This reduces costs and extends the aircraft life span.
8. Operational Challenges of Rotary-Wing CCAs
Sustaining wingmen in UUVs and helicopters requires different sensors and AI than in fixed-wing CCAs. Low-altitude maneuvering raises threats to the aircraft to ground fire and demands sophisticated terrain-following and radar avoidance systems. The Army also has concerns about affordability-the more that CCAs resemble manned aircraft in cost, the weaker the justification for using them.
9. Future Experimentation and Industry Engagement
The Army will organize the experimentation event early in 2026 to leverage the study that PEO Aviation carried out under Group 4 UAV. The industry shall be invited to show what they can for the requirements particular to the rotor-wing aircraft. Modeling and experimental validation shall inform the specifications for the future CCA to meet the requirements for low-altitude night operations at 150+ knots, according to Baker. The Army’s development of rotary-wing loyal wingman UAVs represents a huge paradigm shift both in doctrine and technology.
With a mix of experiences from other branches combined with internal lessons learned, the service hopes to build a line of unmanned aircraft systems that promote survivability, reach back, and provide economical mass at an affordable price point-the key to which could fundamentally alter Army airpower in the next decade with seamless integration with existing aviation means.
