Air Force 6th Gen Stealth Fighter Will Operate 5 Surveillance & Attack Drones

Video Above: A Warrior Maven exclusive interview with US Air Force Maj. Gen. & Commander of the Air Force Research Lab, Heather Pringle

by Kris Osborn, President,  Center for Military Modernization

(Washington, D.C.) The Air Force may wind up building several manned variants of the emerging 6th-Generation Next-Generation Air Dominance stealth fighter jet and a small family of wingman-type support drones as the cutting edge, yet largely secret aircraft program surges into the future.

Delivery Timelines and milestones are still likely in flux, yet one can likely expect accelerated development of the new aircraft, a demonstrator of which has already taken to the skies.

Described as a “family of systems,” NGAD will consist of a manned stealth fighter platform and a small number of multimission drones operated called Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) which will test enemy air defenses, blanket high-risk areas with forward surveillance and deliver weapons, with humans in a manned aircraft performing command and control.

Air Force Acquisition Executive Andrew Hunter said that the manned NGAD platform itself will likely emerge by the end of the decade and the CCAs will emerge much more quickly as nearer term items. Industry is already significantly invested with their R&D and preparing for a competition to build the new family of drones.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says the new manned 6th-generation stealth fighter will likely control as many as five drones (CCAs) at one time from the cockpit.