An F-35 performs flight maneuvers in events commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States in May 2026. The U.S. Air Force is training pilots to pair up with unmanned systems called Collaborative Combat Aircraft while flying the F-35 and other fighter planes. (Photo by Jesus Olarte/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Anadolu via Getty Images
The U.S. Air Force is conducting large-scale combat exercises in Nevada tasking fighter pilots with controlling multiple unmanned aircraft systems in mock battle sorties. The unmanned systems, known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft, included the YFQ-44A Fury and the YFQ-42A Dark Merlin.
Pilots practiced flying alongside the CCAs while wielding them as partners in multiple sorties, the Air Force revealed.
“By integrating uncrewed systems to fly alongside our Airmen, we extend reach and increase lethality,” Gen. Ken Wilsbach, Air Force chief of staff, said in a statement.
While the service has previously trained pilots to wield large unmanned aircraft as “loyal wingmen” in controlled environments, the drills at Creech Air Force Base mark the first time the CCAs have performed alongside airmen in larger scale combat exercises.
The goal was to integrate the autonomous aircraft into battle exercises at speed and in mass.
Robot Plane Fires Self-Guided Missile
An unmanned YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft fires an AIM-120 weapon during exercises in secluded airspace over the Mojave Desert. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jennifer Healy)
U.S. Air Force
In a major milestone for the increasing mechanization of warfare, the Fury fired AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles during the exercise.
The AMRAAM is a light but powerful self-guided missile that flies at supersonic speeds to strike targets far beyond the line of sight with extreme precision. It is used on almost all U.S. fighter jets.
The autonomous system’s use of a self-guided missile marks an unprecedented step in machine-on-machine collaboration.
The Air Force is currently aiming to put 1,000 autonomous aircraft into the field at rapid pace. Last month, the service sought to boost CCA production by awarding several contracts for engineering, manufacturing development and production to General Atomics for the YFQ-42 and Anduril for the YFQ-44, with additional contracts awarded for autonomous software development.
The scale of the battle drills in Nevada and the functions now being performed by autonomous aircraft signal that, alongside drone boats, drone fighter planes will define the conduct of future warfare.