For America’s military to continue dominating the next century, the future lies in autonomous drone systems that Anduril and others are developing.
The age of manned combat aircraft is coming to an end. U.S. military contractors who insist upon building fleets of manned warplanes have not yet come to grapple with this fact, but it is true all the same. Indeed, a key move away from manned aircraft is the advent of mixed squadrons of manned and unmanned systems.
Eventually, the manned systems in America’s arsenal will be rendered redundant and, therefore, obsolete. The nation still relying upon them will likely lose a major war against a nation that is not as committed to the manned warplane model of warfare.
Fortunately, in an excellent development for the United States Air Force, the “Loyal Wingman” combat drone program reached a high mark last week. Air Force Chief of Staff David W. Allvin gave the official designations to two critical elements of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft system. Specifically, the drone maker General Atomics’ XQ-67A received an official designation of YFQ-42A.
Meanwhile, Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries had its drone dubbed as the “YFQ-44A.” To understand the designations for the prototypes involved, the “Y” stands for “prototype,” the “F” for “Fighter,” and the “Q” means “uncrewed.” Hence, “YFQ.”
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft are meant, as the name suggests, to work in tandem with manned systems. It’s part of the larger—and astonishingly expensive—sixth-generation warplane program. But these unmanned systems will first be tested alongside the F-22s and F-35s. It is more than likely, however, given the constraints on America’s defense budget, that the Collaborative Combat Aircraft systems will live and die with the fifth-generation warplane, as a sixth-generation warplane may never materialize.
General Atomics’ YFQ-42A
General Atomics’ YFQ-42A is believed to be part of the company’s “Gambit” family of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV). This system emphasizes flexibility, affordability, and mission effectiveness. Its design features a sleek fuselage with slender wings, a top-mounted air inlet, V-tails, and an internal weapons bay, suggesting a focus on stealth and aerodynamic efficiency.
This system is a force multiplier, supporting air-to-air mission sets that F-22s and F-35s will be engaged in. The YFQ-42A will carry weapons and sensors to augment the capabilities of the F-22s and F-35s it will be flying alongside.
Moreover, this drone is estimated to cost only $25 million-to-$30 million per unit—a fraction of the price of manned systems. The drones can operate in heavily contested environments, leveraging crewed-unmanned teaming to secure air dominance. While its primary role is air-to-air combat, potential future missions could include electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
Anduril’s YFQ-44A (Fury)
Codenamed “Fury,” the YFQ-44A features moderately swept trapezoidal wings, a chin-mounted air inlet, a cruciform tail with stabilators and a single vertical stabilizer, and external weapons hardpoints. This configuration suggests a balance between maneuverability and payload capacity, tailored for high-performance air superiority missions.
Put plainly, YFQ-44A is a high-flying missile truck. This system drastically extends the reach and firepower of platforms, such as the F-35.
Anduril emphasizes its mass-producibility and cost-efficiency. The drone notably incorporates Anduril’s proprietary Lattice Artificial Intelligence (AI) software for command-and-control. Lattice AI integrates data from multiple sensors to enhance the drone’s overall autonomy, reducing the need for human input.
More importantly, the relative cheapness and mass producibility of this system means that it is highly expendable in combat—an essential element for any nation, such as the United States, that stands on the brink of a great power war in which it is set to face powerful, rising enemies (namely China).
YFQ-44A is more than a missile truck, though. Anduril has designed it so that the drone can conduct sweeping electronic warfare (EW) attacks against its foes, as well as perform crucial ISR mission sets. Basically, Fury lives up to its name—and then some.
The Future of Unmanned Systems is Nearly Here
The Air Force, along with the rest of the U.S. military, has struggled for many years since the end of the Cold War to get its acquisitions processes right. Because of inefficiencies born out of the command-style economy that is the defense sector, the Pentagon—and by extension the American taxpayer—has paid the heaviest price for the bureaucracy getting so much wrong when it comes to building new weapons platforms.
However, with these new drone systems—potentially married to AI—the Air Force has a chance to rapidly enhance its combat readiness while cutting costs.
The future is not with the stodgy, interlocking bureaucracies of the traditional defense contractors and the Pentagon brass. For America’s military to continue dominating the next century, the future lies in systems that Anduril and others are developing. That’s why it is vital for the Air Force to scrap its notion of building a costly sixth-generation manned warplane and focus instead on developing swarms of these unmanned combat vehicles.
And in this effort, the consortium that Elon Musk proposed creating shortly after the election of Donald Trump as the forty-seventh president is key. This new consortium of defense firms, including the likes of Palantir, Anduril and General Atomics, as well as SpaceX (and others), will help to drive down costs—while building systems that are relevant and practical to the battlefield.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: General Atomics / Creative Commons.
