The United States Air Force is actively pursuing the rapid development and deployment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs), semi-autonomous drones designed to operate alongside crewed fighter jets. A central challenge in this ambitious endeavor, according to former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, is building trust in these new systems among the Airmen who will eventually operate them. Kendall, a key proponent of semi-autonomous weaponry and head of the Department of the Air Force under the previous administration, emphasized during a July 16 visit to the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies that such trust will naturally evolve through increased operational experience.
This experience is set to accelerate significantly as CCAs are integrated into major military exercises, including Red Flag, the Air Force’s premier aerial combat training series. Kendall anticipates these exercises will be pivotal in demonstrating the efficacy of CCAs. “When the guys with the CCAs are beating the crap out of the guys without them, and not losing any manned fighters, that’s going to be pretty obvious, right?” Kendall remarked, highlighting the potential for CCAs to offer a decisive advantage in simulated combat scenarios.
The Air Force aims to acquire a fleet of approximately 1,000 CCAs. These drones are envisioned to dramatically extend the operational reach of crewed fighters and undertake a variety of missions, including strike operations, intelligence gathering through reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. The initial phase of this program involves General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Anduril Industries, who are developing their respective CCA models, designated as the FQ-42A and FQ-44A. Further iterations, or increments, of the program are planned to introduce more advanced capabilities.
Kendall noted that extensive battle simulations consistently demonstrate that forces equipped with CCAs achieve decisive victories. However, these simulations also reveal that CCAs tend to incur heavy losses in combat. This finding underscores the ongoing need for the Air Force to refine tactics to enhance the survivability of these drones. Despite the projected losses, Kendall stressed their critical contribution: “But they’re also protecting crewed fighters very, very effectively. When the CCAs get their missiles off and they kill a couple of the other guys’ aircraft, even if [the CCAs] die, they’ve really contributed a lot to the battle.” This trade-off—sacrificing drones to protect valuable manned aircraft and achieve mission objectives—is a core tenet of the CCA concept.
Photo by Jud McCrehin/ Air & Space Forces Association
This calculated operational philosophy has reportedly generated considerable enthusiasm among military operators. Kendall recounted an interaction with an Air Combat Command pilot involved in developing CCA tactics. When asked about potential resistance to the concept, the pilot’s response was direct: “Sir, these things are going to save our lives.” This sentiment underscores a practical acceptance driven by the perceived safety benefits for human pilots, who would otherwise be exposed to higher risks in contested environments.
The momentum behind CCAs is building. Pilots are already gaining familiarity through cockpit simulators, experiencing what it is like to fly alongside these drones. In April, the Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) initiated a series of sorties at Edwards Air Force Base, California. These flights are crucial for refining the operational and logistical procedures required to deploy and sustain CCAs effectively in a combat zone. A significant milestone was achieved in June and early July during Exercise Valiant Shield 26 in the Pacific, where the Air Force operated a Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat – a CCA model not currently slated for production – alongside a variety of manned aircraft, including the F-35A and B, F-15EX, E-3 Sentry, and HC-130J Combat King II.
While the Air Force has not yet publicly announced further exercises incorporating CCAs, a spokesperson informed Air & Space Forces Magazine that the program is deliberately structured to “get aircraft into the hands of the EOU’s operators early and often to create a tight feedback loop between the warfighter and the developer.” This iterative approach is designed to ensure that the development process remains responsive to the needs and feedback of those who will ultimately use the systems in combat.
Despite the program’s progress, Kendall expressed concern that initial setbacks in exercises or other developmental phases might lead the Air Force to scale back its commitment. He explicitly warned against such a reaction, stating, “When I initiated the CCA program, I made it very clear this is a one-way door. We’re going to field this at scale as a real operational capability. Not an experiment, it’s not a prototype. We’re going to do this.” This firm declaration highlights the strategic imperative the Air Force places on integrating CCAs as a foundational element of its future combat doctrine.
A critical aspect that exercises are expected to validate is the number of drones a single human pilot can effectively direct. Kendall indicated that simulations have yielded “very, very encouraging” results, surpassing original expectations. While he refrained from specifying the exact number, he noted, “when I started this, I thought … three [CCAs] at the bottom, maybe five at the upper end. The answer is actually bigger than that, because [the controls] are fairly simple and they’re very intuitive. People who have been playing video games as kids, it’s easy for them to do this.” This ease of control allows pilots to manage their squadron of CCAs “as a tactical formation, essentially,” largely due to “default behaviors” that can be simultaneously programmed across multiple drones, streamlining command rather than requiring individual programming.
The underlying autonomy technology for CCAs continues to advance rapidly. On the same day Kendall spoke at the Mitchell Institute, the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a significant step forward: a research effort aimed at creating autonomous F-16s has progressed to flight tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This program, known as VENOM (Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model), commenced in-air testing in July with an F-16 equipped with an artificial intelligence (AI) agent designed to autonomously control its flight.
These autonomous F-16 flights operate under a “human-on-the-loop” concept, where pilots are present in the cockpit to monitor the AI agents and ensure that flight and mission system test objectives are met safely. The F-16s involved in VENOM feature a specialized “Autonomy Kit” modification, which allows the onboard pilot to toggle AI control on and off with a simple switch. This mechanism creates a secure and reliable environment for experimenting with advanced autonomy while maintaining human oversight and the ability to intervene if necessary. Tim Stevens, a VENOM test pilot with the 40th Flight Test Squadron, emphasized the significance of this development, stating, “Getting the aircraft into the air is always a monumental milestone for a complex test program. It represents years of design, modification and test planning poured into this project by a dedicated team of hundreds. As we cross this starting line, we are excited to watch VENOM redefine the boundaries of autonomous flight.”
The VENOM program builds upon prior successful experiments, notably with the X-62A VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft). The VISTA demonstrated that an AI system could independently pilot a fighter jet in a dogfight, a capability personally experienced by Kendall during a flight at Edwards Air Force Base in May 2024. As AI autonomy continues to mature, the Air Force anticipates pursuing new increments of CCAs. Kendall suggested that the second increment should be more sophisticated than the first, incorporating advanced sensors and other capabilities in addition to carrying weapons. Such multi-functional drones would present a significant advantage, compelling enemy forces to treat every incoming CCA as a potential threat, thus “His best tactic is to try to kill them all,” Kendall explained. “That’s actually good from our perspective,” implying that this uncertainty would overwhelm adversary defenses and enhance the effectiveness of the overall force package.
Why This Matters
The rapid development and integration of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) and advanced autonomous flight systems mark a pivotal shift in global military strategy and the future of air power. This initiative represents a significant commitment by the U.S. Air Force to an era where human and machine will operate in increasingly close concert. The emphasis on building “trust” in these semi-autonomous systems highlights not just a technological challenge, but a profound cultural and operational transformation within the military. If successful, CCAs could dramatically alter the calculus of air combat, providing a numerical advantage, extending operational reach into highly contested areas, and significantly reducing the risk to human pilots by assigning dangerous “first-in” or “attritable” missions to drones.
Furthermore, the advancements in AI piloting, exemplified by programs like VENOM and VISTA, signal a broader trend toward increasingly autonomous warfare capabilities. The “human-on-the-loop” concept, while still retaining human oversight, is a stepping stone to potentially greater autonomy, raising critical questions about command and control, ethical implications, and the very nature of future conflicts. This push is likely to accelerate a global arms race in AI-driven military technology, as other nations observe and respond to the U.S.’s technological leaps. Economically, the ability to deploy large fleets of relatively inexpensive, albeit “attritable,” drones could offer a cost-effective solution for maintaining air superiority against near-peer adversaries. However, it also introduces complexities in sustainment, cyber security, and the psychological impact of remotely waged warfare. The success or failure of the CCA program will profoundly influence not only the U.S. military’s capabilities but also the strategic landscape of international defense for decades to come.