🇺🇸 U.S. Air Force opens unmanned fighter era

🇺🇸 The U.S. Air Force opened the unmanned fighter era on June 17, 2026 with the awarding of the contract to produce Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, to General Atomics and Anduril Industries.

The aircraft selected are the FQ-42A Dark Merlin and FQ-44A Fury, semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles, designed to work with piloted aircraft such as the F-35, as well as future newer fighters, to increase detection range, conduct electronic warfare, carry weapons, and receive high-risk missions instead of humans. ✈️

However, this system is not meant to empower AI to use weapons independently; decisions about lethal force are still subject to human control and approval.

Founded in 2017 and focused on developing defense systems with software, Anduril noted that this is the first time in more than 50 years that a new player has been awarded a contract to produce U.S. fighter jets.

The project originally had five contenders, but Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman were eliminated in 2024 qualifying, while General Atomics and Anduril passed into prototyping. Before both were awarded production contracts in 2026, the number of machines and contract value were not disclosed.

The Air Force aims to have more than 150 CCA's by the end of the decade and may supply around 1,000 in the long run.

Sources: Reuters · Anduril · General Atomics

# deepkub # Anduril # CollaborativeCombatAircraft # Battle drones # Military technology