{"id":157842,"date":"2026-09-17T05:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=157842"},"modified":"2026-09-17T03:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:45:29","slug":"us-air-force-new-fighter-drones-enter-their-biggest-test-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/us-air-force-new-fighter-drones-enter-their-biggest-test-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Largest Air Force in the World New Fighter Drones Enter Their Biggest Test Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ARLINGTON-<\/strong> The US Air Force (USAF)<\/a> plans to use Exercise Emerald Flag in December 2026 for the first real large-force employment (LFE) of its own Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) at Nellis Air Force Base (LSV) in Nevada is leading much of the service’s CCA experimentation. Nellis is located about eight miles northeast of Las Vegas (LAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event will test how the FQ-42 Vengeance and FQ-44 Fury operate with crewed fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft, while also examining command and control, mission autonomy, maintenance, logistics, and airspace policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force officially announced the FQ-42 and FQ-44 names on September 14, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Photo: US Air Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emerald Flag Will Provide a First Live CCA Integration Test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Col. Lyndon \u201cOTTO\u201d Bartlett, director of operations for the EOU at Nellis, said the Air Force has not yet conducted a real LFE with these CCAs. He said Emerald Flag, scheduled for December, will be the service’s first opportunity to test them in an actual force-integration environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TWZ<\/a> reported Bartlett’s remarks during a panel at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett said the exercise will also provide the first live end-to-end CCA chain demonstration and the first integration of the aircraft into a combined fourth- and fifth-generation offensive counter-air (OCA) push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described the initial event as small, but said those early building blocks are important for developing confidence in CCA performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EOU has already conducted various forms of testing with prototypes of the General Atomics FQ-42 and Anduril FQ-44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force entered production for 150 Increment 1 aircraft in June 2026. It now intends to have 500 combat-ready, semi-autonomous CCAs by 2032, with an overall fleet size of about 1,000 aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: USAF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why Emerald Flag Matters to CCA Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, began hosting Emerald Flag exercises in 2020. The exercise series has focused heavily on aerial networking architectures and command-and-control capabilities, areas that will be important to CCA operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emerald Flag is not limited to the air domain, and other US military<\/a> services regularly participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That background makes the exercise relevant to the Air Force’s CCA concept. The aircraft are being developed as part of integrated force packages, so their performance has to be assessed alongside communications networks, battle management systems and crewed aircraft rather than only through standalone flight demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: General Atomics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trust in Autonomous Systems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force must establish more than technical performance. Pilots and other operators also need confidence that autonomous aircraft will respond correctly when assigned tasks during complex missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett said those trust-related lessons could be as valuable as technical findings. The EOU will examine basic questions such as whether radios work correctly and whether an operator’s command to designate a target produces the expected response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broader objective is to build confidence in how the aircraft behaves during real force integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That requirement is closely connected to the way CCAs are designed to operate. Unlike traditional remotely piloted aircraft, the CCA concept relies on mission autonomy to carry out assigned functions with much less direct human interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Edward Air Force Base <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Virtual Testing Speeds Up Mission Autonomy Development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The EOU has been using virtualized testing to accelerate development of CCA mission-autonomy software. Bartlett described a feedback loop in which operators can work directly with programmers during simulated testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a problem can be corrected immediately, programmers can incorporate the feedback into the next software iteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issues that require more development can be addressed in a later iteration. This process allows the EOU to test changes rapidly before repeating them in a live aircraft environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The live environment remains necessary because simulation cannot reproduce every practical issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real aircraft operations allow the EOU to examine weapons loading, maintenance, sortie generation, logistics, command and control and other factors associated with operating an autonomous aircraft outside a test computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: General Atomics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CCA Testing Extends to Agile Combat Employment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A major part of the Air Force’s CCA concept is the ability to deploy aircraft to dispersed locations, including airstrips with limited infrastructure and restricted access to established logistics networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That requirement is linked to the service’s developing Agile Combat Employment (ACE) approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EOU conducted ACE-focused testing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in April 2026, and at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, in July 2026. The testing examined the practical requirements for operating CCAs from distributed locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These experiments complement Emerald Flag. ACE testing focuses on how the aircraft can be deployed and supported, while a large-force exercise can show how the same aircraft operate as part of a larger combat formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maintenance and Manpower<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett said the EOU has also been examining sortie generation, maintenance requirements and the size of the operating footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the aircraft had been relatively easy to maintain and that current testing had reached a one-to-one maintainer-to-aircraft ratio. That indicates the EOU is evaluating whether CCAs can generate sorties with substantially smaller support requirements than traditional combat aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EOU has also tested weapons loading and sortie generation using personnel from different Air Force specialties. Bartlett said the work suggested that personnel from any Air Force Specialty Code, after training, could be prepared to perform these functions on CCAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work is intended to answer practical questions about how CCAs will be staffed, armed, maintained and supported once they begin entering operational units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"YFQ-44A\"
Photo: By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs – https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/image\/9533246\/collaborative-combat-aircraft-program-progresses-through-deliberate-weapons-integration-testing, Public Domain, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=198589070<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Major Policy Challenge and Air Force Doctrine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The EOU faces a separate challenge in integrating autonomous aircraft into U.S. airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett identified FAA integration and policy implications as one of the EOU’s two biggest problems. CCAs do not fit neatly into existing categories because they are neither manned fighters nor conventional remotely piloted aircraft. Their operation depends on mission-autonomy systems rather than an onboard pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue becomes more complicated because the Air Force ultimately wants these systems to perform missions with limited human engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Existing aviation rules and procedures were not written specifically for autonomous combat aircraft, creating a policy problem that the Air Force must address as testing advances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second major challenge is the development of internal Air Force policy and doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett said the service needs rules that account for the specific characteristics of CCAs rather than simply copying existing regulations designed for older aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The objective is to create a framework that allows the Air Force to experiment rapidly while addressing the distinct requirements of autonomous aircraft and new forms of air superiority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That policy work covers more than flight operations. It also affects command and control, logistics, maintenance, employment concepts and the level of autonomy that operators can assign to the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"General
Photo: General Atomics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Future CCA Employment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The term collaborative remains central to the Air Force’s current concept. Bartlett said taking CCAs out of a crewed-uncrewed force package could still produce an effective aircraft, but would not necessarily provide the same benefit to the joint force as an integrated force package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kratos executive Robert \u201cOtis\u201d Winkler offered a different perspective during the same panel. He said the collaborative approach can make the autonomy problem easier to manage because the Air Force can limit or expand autonomous functions as the aircraft enter service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also suggested that CCAs could eventually support operations during periods when traditional crewed aircraft are not yet present, while describing that as a longer-term stretch goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anduril executive Jason Levin emphasized that the aircraft were designed to increase the survivability and lethality of existing force packages. His comments indicate that describing the aircraft as fighters does not necessarily mean that they are intended to operate independently of crewed aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: USAF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Valiant Shield Provided Separate CCA-Type Demonstration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force has already gained related experience through Exercise Valiant Shield 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Boeing<\/a> Defence Australia-developed MQ-28 Ghost Bat participated in the exercise as a production-representative test aircraft. It was integrated with US and allied forces and flew alongside crewed fighter platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pacific Air Forces said the aircraft would conduct defensive and offensive counter-air missions as part of the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MQ-28 remains separate from the US Air Force’s official FQ-42 and FQ-44 fleet. Its participation therefore provides relevant human-machine teaming experience, but it does not represent the same program milestone as using the Air Force’s own designated CCAs in Emerald Flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EOU’s approach is based on repeated experimentation rather than a single test event. The unit identifies what the autonomous system needs to do, evaluates whether it can perform those tasks, sends failures and deficiencies back into the development cycle, and then flies the updated system again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That process links software development with live operational testing. It also allows the Air Force to examine issues that emerge only when autonomous aircraft are combined with crewed platforms, real maintenance teams, weapons loading procedures, logistics networks and airspace rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emerald Flag Will Test More Than Aircraft<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The December 2026 exercise will provide a live test of the broader CCA operating concept, not just the FQ-42 and FQ-44 airframes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force will examine whether the aircraft can integrate with fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, whether their command-and-control links perform as required, whether mission-autonomy software can complete assigned tasks, and whether the force can maintain and generate sorties with the expected personnel footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also provide another opportunity to identify policy and doctrine issues before the aircraft move into operational units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is moving toward a substantial fleet, with the Air Force targeting 500 combat-ready, semi-autonomous CCAs by 2032 and an overall fleet of about 1,000 systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lessons from Emerald Flag and subsequent testing will help determine how those aircraft are integrated into the wider force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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