Autonomous fighter drones join the front lines in USAF operations

GA-ASI YFQ-42A fighter drone prototype (Credit: USAF)

The U.S. Air Force is increasingly referring to its next generation of unmanned aircraft as “fighter drones,” as the service prepares to integrate these vehicles alongside traditional fighter jets in combat missions. The Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program includes two separate vehicles under development by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Anduril, both designed to operate as combat-ready UAVs. These UAVs are being built to complement existing fighter fleets, providing additional capabilities and support during operations. According to Air Force officials, the new aircraft are expected to play a key role in future air combat by flying alongside piloted fighters and taking on a variety of tactical missions.

One is an all-stealth design for undetected penetration of enemy defenses; the other is a sleek fighting companion.

It appears the General Atomics YFQ-42A/CCA drew inspiration from the earlier stealth capabilities of the Avenger UAV, which has been in flight for more than a decade. This aircraft has a maximum ceiling of over 50,000 ft, flies at 400 mph, has around 15 hours of endurance and is powered by a built-in turbofan engine.

One notable feature of the CCA version is its split, sloping “tailfin” and rounded design, along with a top fuselage air intake that shields the power plant from potential radar signals – all stealthy characteristics similar to those of its Avenger counterpart. Looking closely at the prototype, the doors on its belly appear to be for an internal weapons bay.

Another USAF CCA prototype, built by Anduril, has been named the FYQ-44. It features a sleek and fast design, similar to earlier pre-stealth fighters, but also includes an internal weapons bay, rounded contours, and an air intake below the fuselage for a turbofan engine.

The USAF’s release of these two CCA prototype contenders seems to suggest that they could be the fighter aircraft of the future. The CCA program, however, does talk about control of these armed UAVs by accompanying mainline manned fighter aircraft, but with autonomous capability to find and destroy once dispatched to attack a target.

The intent is that these unmanned fighters will be significantly less costly to acquire than their expensive manned brothers so that high-risk targets may still be attacked and destroyed without potential loss of the flying pilot or their expensive aircraft. The unmanned fighters would be programmed by the manned aircraft and missiles in their internal weapons bay, would then go on to be controlled by onboard CCA weapons systems, which would relay data back continuously to the pilot who would have final go/no-go authority.

Both prototypes are slated to fly later this year following extensive ground testing campaigns.

After securing an initial $60 million contract from the USAF in 2021, Hermeus went on to raise $100 million in funding in 2022. This was followed by an investment from Raytheon Technologies’ RTX Ventures later that year. Additionally, the company landed a contract for Hypersonic risk reduction from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), allowing Hermeus to maintain its funding and momentum. This enabled the company to build and recently fly its first unmanned aircraft, which is designed to travel at extremely high speeds, according to the company.

Initially, with an integrated GE J85 engine, Hermeus is now launching the incorporation of the Pratt & Whitney F-100 into its own “Chimera II turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) propulsion system,” all aimed at taking subsequent iterations of their prototype to hypersonic speeds.

Quaterhorse has been developed to demonstrate high-speed take-off and landing of a large unmanned aircraft, and is the first in a series of prototypes. And a couple of months ago, on May 27 at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, Quaterhorse did in fact take off, performed a short overhead circuit and landed! So, more flight tests are now expected to explore the drone’s flight characteristics.

The TBCC two-phase engine with the Pratt F-100 front-end is slated to take Darkhorse, the next planned drone derivative, to Mach 2.8 on the F-100 and then up to over Mach 5 with the hypersonic back-end section of the engine. It could be said that the whole vehicle is being built around this monster engine!

It will be interesting to see how flight testing of Quaterhorse progresses, but even more exciting to hopefully see if and when Hermeus gets the next hypersonic version flying. Additionally, we can anticipate the first flights of the USAF CCA prototypes.

It is amazing how, from the humble beginnings of hobbyist radio-controlled recreational model aircraft, drones have evolved with sophisticated autopilots and are now becoming autonomous vehicles that are taking on front-line air force attack-support. Technological progress is now headed towards hypersonic capability.