For more than a century, air supremacy has depended on one almost unalterable principle: a pilot sitting in the cockpit of a fighter had to locate the enemy, make decisions and, when the time came, shoot. This model has just taken a decisive step towards its transformation.
The United States Air Force has successfully carried out the first real launch of an air-to-air missile from a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), a combat drone designed to fly alongside manned fighters such as the F-35 or the future F-47. The test, carried out with the YFQ-44A, demonstrates that these unmanned aircraft can now detect targetsintegrate with other combat systems and employ long-range weaponry under human supervision. More than the premiere of a new drone, the test marks the birth of a new concept of aerial warfare. One in which the engineers do not want to replace the pilot: they want to multiply him.
CCAs are unmanned aircraft capable of accompanying a fighter during a mission. While the pilot focuses on overall strategy, these drones can overtake, scan airspace, identify threats, carry sensors, or even act as missile launch platforms. They are the first to advance, the first to detect danger and, if necessary, the first to enter combat. In the test carried out over the Mojave Desert, the YFQ-44A launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, one of the medium and long-range air-to-air missiles most used by the air forces.
The target was not another real aircraft, but a simulated digital target, but the test reproduced the entire operational chain: detection, tracking, targeting and launching the missile beyond the operator’s visual range. The importance lies precisely in that complete integration. The system demonstrated that the drone can participate in modern aerial combat. Although These aircraft incorporate a high degree of autonomy, the decision to open fire continues to depend on a human operator.
Artificial intelligence can pilot the device, manage navigation or coordinate with other aircraft, but the use of weapons remains subject to human authorization, a principle that the program maintains as an essential requirement. The idea of a “squire” for a fighter is economical. Today’s fighters represent some of the most complex and expensive machines ever manufactured.
An F-35 costs tens of millions of euros and each pilot requires years of training and money. Losing one in combat represents an enormous economic and human cost. The CCA propose another strategy. Instead of sending a single extremely sophisticated aircraft, the goal is to deploy a small group of aircraft cooperating with each other. Some will carry radars, others will carry electronic warfare equipment, there will be some that will act as missile depots and there will be those that will help the enemy reveal the position of their defenses. And, most importantly, Their cost is a fraction of a fighter and if one of these drones is shot down, the mission can continue.
From a military point of view, the change is more reminiscent of a flock of birds than a duel between two fighters. Instead of individual confrontations, multiple systems will continually share information. Each aircraft will observe a different part of the airspace and transmit its data to the rest of the group. The launch of the AIM-120 does not automatically make the YFQ-44A an operating system. There are still years of testing, integration and validation. However, the test confirms that the concept works and that the US Air Force is moving towards an aviation where humans and autonomous aircraft will fight in a coordinated manner.