- The Air Force confirmed its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program is beating its target of ~⅓ the cost of an F-35—potentially well below ~$34M per unit.
- CCAs are semi-autonomous “loyal wingman” drones designed for strike, ISR, and electronic warfare alongside fighters like the F-22 and F-35.
Why it matters:
This fundamentally changes force structure economics—enabling mass, attritable airpower at scale, which is critical for Indo-Pacific conflict scenarios.
