US Air Force to begin production of CCA drones for fifth and sixth generation fighters within five years - programme will receive up to $5.8 billion

The U.S. Air Force has outlined a timeline for the start of production of guided drones. Their development is carried out within the framework of the CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft) programme.

Here's What We Know

If everything goes according to plan, the production of unmanned aerial vehicles will begin before 2028. This was announced by US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall during a speech at Politico's Defence Summit.

In the FY 2024 request, the military service requested $392 million for the CCA programme. Total funding for the guided drone project is expected to reach $5.8 billion over the next five years.

CCA is part of the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) initiative, which will give the world possibly the first ever sixth-generation fighter jet. The US Air Force wants to buy a minimum of 1,000 UAVs for the F-35 Lightning II and the NGAD platform. One drone is expected to cost 3-4 times cheaper than the F-35.

Source: Breaking Defence