Although the United States has put its sixth-generation fighter project Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) on hold, the country continues to actively develop the concept of loyal wingman drones under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The unmanned systems are to be controlled from crewed aircraft such as the F-35.
The Skunk Works division of the American company Lockheed Martin is currently actively working on the development of such capabilities. The other day, they showcased a "crewed-uncrewed teaming mission" where the battle manager onboard an L-39 Albatros issued real-time commands to AI-controlled L-29 Delfin aircraft through a touchscreen pilot vehicle interface (PVI).
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The test simulated an offensive counter air mission against two mock enemy jets where the L-39 pilot selected targets, and the loyal wingmen engaged them using "simulated mission systems and weapons." This marks the third test of this type and the first to include a real-time human battle manager overseeing the AI's actions.
As emphasized by Skunk Works Vice President and General Manager John Clark, the project is "foundational for the future of air combat."
Earlier Defense Express reported on the AI-based technologies incorporated into much smaller suicide drones used on the battlefields in Ukraine, the most notable one called the "machine vision" which involves autonomous identification and lock on target to deliver the explosive. Drone swarm attack technologies incorporating neural networks slowly find their way to the battlefields as well.
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