America’s first fully unmanned fighter jets revealed in futuristic Air Force prototypes
The Air Force has unveiled the first ever fully unmanned fighter jets in a showcase of the next generation of the American military.
The YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, also dubbed the ‘loyal wingmen,’ were revealed at the Air Force Association Warfare Symposium, where military leaders hailed the technology as a new era in military aviation.
‘We have a fighter designation in the YFQ-42 Alpha and the YFQ-44 Alpha – maybe just symbolic, but it’s telling the world that we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare,’ Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin said, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine.
‘If we’re in this dangerous and dynamic time, I want to give the president as many options as we possibly can,’ he said during his keynote speech at the symposium.’
When deployed, the unmanned combat fighter jets would work alongside manned aircrafts, such as the F-35 and F-22s.
However, both would be able to carry out solo missions, in addition to small groups, according to Business Insider.
The aircrafts were developed in partnership with General Atomics for the 42A and Anduril Industries for the 44A.
Anduril’s ‘The Fury’ has a single turbofan engine and can reach up to 650mph and go up to 50,000 feet, according to Business Insider. Its control systems will also integrate AI to help command and control of the aircraft.
The YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, also dubbed the ‘loyal wingmen,’ were revealed at the Air Force Association Warfare Symposium, where military leaders hailed the technology as a new era in military aviation
Anduril’s ‘The Fury’ has a single turbofan engine and can reach up to 650mph and go up to 50,000 feet, according to Business Insider. It’s control systems will also integrate AI to help command and control of the aircraft
‘We have a fighter designation in the YFQ-42 Alpha and the YFQ-44 Alpha – maybe just symbolic, but it’s telling the world that we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare,’ Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin said
General Atomics’ fighter jet system is based on its existing XQ-67A that can adapt to each mission.
The Y in the name stands for prototype, the F stands for fighter, and the Q means un-crewed. The Y will eventually be dropped once it goes into production.
‘We are pioneering a new generation of semi-autonomous fighter aircraft that is fundamentally transforming air dominance by delivering highly capable, mass-producible, more affordable, and more autonomous aircraft by the end of the decade,’ a senior VP for engineer, Jason Levin, told the magazine.
General Atomics said the aircraft will help soldiers ‘defeat enemy threats in contested environments’ and it is designed to ‘integrate seamlessly’ with the current fleet and future ones.
The prototypes are apart of the Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance program, which is focusing on a hybrid crewed-autonomous fleet.
The program, plagued by development delays and high costs, is funded through the Pentagon’s budget, according to Business Insider.
Over the years, the Air Force’s fleet has dwindled as it is expensive to produce and develop new planes. It is now down to 5,500 planes, according to the outlet.
The new prototypes would be cheaper to build and maintain than the current fleet.
The aircrafts were developed in partnership with General Atomics for the 42A and Anduril Industries for the 44A
General Atomics’ fighter jet system is based on its existing XQ-67A that can adapt to each mission. General Atomics said the aircraft will help soldiers ‘defeat enemy threats in contested environments’ and it is designed to ‘integrate seamlessly’ with the current and future fleets
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the new aircrafts would cost one-third of the one built for a soldier to operate, according to Business Insider.
An unmanned plane would cost $1,200 per pound, whereas a crewed aircraft cost up to $6,000 per pound.
It would also help protect soldiers as it would need less men in the air.
The Air Force has requested $557.1 million to build 1,000 of the new fighters to pair two with each of its 500 advanced fighters, according to Business Insider.
