The Air Force thinks Collaborative Combat Aircraft can be bought for as little as $1,200 per pound—about a third of the cost of crewed fighters—but mission equipment needs to be aligned to that lower price.
Technology
Lockheed Martin, having “gold-plated” its initial bid for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, will focus on lower cost, more attritable aircraft in its proposal for the second increment, the head of the company’s legendary Skunk Works division told reporters Sept. 17.
As the Air Force eyes hundreds if not thousands of unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft to supplement its manned fighter fleet, startup Anduril offered a rare glimpse at the kind of autonomy software that could undergird CCAs—one human providing relatively simple directions for multiple “robotic wingmen” ...
Mercury Systems Chief Operating Officer Roger Wells talks with Air & Space Forces Magazine Editor-in-Chief Tobias Naegele about the latest advances, opportunities, and needs for edge computing and how Mercury’s systems can provide processing power for the Air and Space Forces.
Piasecki Aircraft has conducted the first flight of its autonomous tilt-duct vertical takeoff and landing aircraft demonstrator, which could lead to a combat rescue craft and/or a logistics platform supporting the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment model.
The Next Fighter Engine Cost is going to be a significant variable. … You could do a lower-cost engine and actually use something that’s available today, … or you go into something that’s brand-new. …Both of those variables are going...
New B-1 Pylon Creates ‘Hypersonic Testbed’ By John A. Tirpak The Air Force has begun using a new Boeing pylon to test a variety of weapons on the B-1 Lancer, the 412th Test Wing announced in August, and now has a...
Small satellites lend themselves to many more applications than simply low-Earth orbit resilience. Russian and Chinese offensive spacepower ambitions are making headlines and are intent on erasing the vital advantage the United States has in space. U.S. defense leadership now...
Northrop Grumman said it put a pilot on its new Model 437—ostensibly an autonomous craft—to speed testing, as it won’t need segregated airspace usually required for uninhabited aircraft. A new video of the first flight emphasizes the speed at which the aircraft was fabricated and ...