Pentagon pushes autonomous fighter jets for future wars with China

The United States Air Force is accelerating development of AI-powered autonomous combat aircraft designed to operate alongside fighter jets, as Pentagon officials warned that future conflicts with rivals like China will require larger, cheaper and more survivable air combat fleets

Washington: The US Air Force is rapidly accelerating development of autonomous combat aircraft designed to fight alongside manned fighter jets, as Pentagon leaders warned that future wars against adversaries like China would demand larger, cheaper and more survivable air fleets.

Senior Air Force officials told lawmakers this week that Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, had become central to America’s future air combat strategy, marking one of the clearest signs yet of the Pentagon’s shift towards artificial intelligence-driven warfare.

---

The programme received repeated attention during hearings before both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees as lawmakers pressed the Air Force over how it planned to balance expensive next-generation fighters with lower-cost autonomous systems. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink described the aircraft as a “massive cost efficient force multiplier” that would operate alongside manned fleets such as the F-35, F-22 and future F-47 fighter aircraft.

“When we talk about an unmanned fighter aircraft, for all practical purposes, that’s what a CCA is,” Meink said. “It is really a way to build a large number of lower cost fighter aircraft that will support and operate in collaboration with the manned fleet.”

Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth Wilsbach said the systems were already demonstrating significant progress, with multiple autonomous flights completed by competing contractors. “The autonomous systems are working,” Wilsbach told Senators. “We’re learning from it and adjusting as we go.”

The FY2027 budget request includes $1.4 billion for Collaborative Combat Aircraft development as part of a broader Air Force modernisation push that also includes the F-47 fighter, B-21 bomber and advanced battle management systems.

Pentagon officials said that autonomous systems would allow the US military to rapidly increase combat mass while reducing operational costs and risks to pilots. Wilsbach said the aircraft were designed to create “more problems and dilemmas for your adversary” by increasing the number of combat systems operating in contested airspace.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike D. Rogers urged the Air Force to move even faster towards remotely operated fighters. “We have to start thinking about that remotely operated fighter jet,” Rogers said during the hearing. “The technology already exists.”

Wilsbach also linked the growing importance of autonomous systems to recent operations in the Middle East. He said MQ-9 Reaper drones had become one of the most heavily used platforms during Operation Epic Fury. “No other platform is even close to the MQ-9,” he added.

The hearings reflected mounting concern in Washington that China is rapidly modernising its own military aviation and autonomous warfare capabilities. Air Force officials repeatedly stressed that the US must “innovate faster” to maintain air superiority in future conflicts.