Collaborative combat aircraft
Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), is a US program for unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) and considered broadly equivalent to loyal wingman. CCAs are intended to operate in collaborative teams with the next generation of manned combat aircraft, including sixth-generation fighters and bombers such as the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Unlike the conventional UCAVs, the CCA incorporates artificial intelligence (AI), denoted an "autonomy package", and is capable of surviving on the battlefield. It is still expected to be much lower-cost than a manned aircraft with similar capabilities. The US Air Force plans to spend more than $6 billion on its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programs over the next five years (2023 to 2028). The success of the CCA program could lessen the need for additional manned squadrons. Characteristics
A CCA is a military drone with an onboard AI control system and capability to carry and deliver a significant military weapons load. Its AI system is envisaged as being significantly lighter and lower-cost than a human pilot with their associated life support systems, but offering comparable capability in flying the aircraft and in mission execution. Role
The principal application is to elevate the role of human pilots to mission commanders, leaving AIs to operate under their tactical control as high-skill operators of relatively low-cost robotic craft. CCAs can perform other missions as well, as "a sensor, as a shooter, as a weapons carrier, as a cost reducer". Capabilities
Although a CCA will be a fraction of the cost of a manned fighter, they would not be considered expendable or even vulnerable to attrition. A CCA would have sufficient intelligence and onboard defence systems to survive on the battlefield. US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has described them as playing perhaps "100 roles": remotely controlled versions of targeting pods, electronic warfare pods or weapons carriers to provide additional sensors and munitions; to balance affordability and capability. The price point of a CCA will determine how many types of missions a single airframe can perform, with more expensive designs able to be multirole aircraft, while cheaper designs could be modular to perform different tasks on different days which can afford to be lost in combat. The USAF is seeking CCAs with greater thrust than the current MQ-28 and the XQ-58. History 
The concept of the CCA arose in the early 2000s. CCA programs include the USAF Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. The US Navy and USAF plan to be able to control the CCAs and NGADs of either service. The CCA is being developed in collaborative fashion by multiple commands of the USAF: MG Heather L. Pringle —Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), MG R. Scott Jobe —Air Combat Command (ACC), BG Dale R. White —Program Executive Officer for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft (PEO), and BG Joseph Kunkle — DCS, Plans and Programs. All four generals agreed on the need to put CCAs into the Joint Simulation Environment. Heather Penney has identified five key elements for the collaborative development of crewed-uncrewed teaming of autonomous loyal wingmen, remote pilots of UAVs, and pilots flying separately in manned aircraft (also called manned-unmanned teaming). Create concepts that will maximize the strengths of both CCA and piloted aircraft working as a team. Include operators in CCA development to ensure they understand how they will perform in the battlespace. Warfighters must be able to depend on CCA autonomy. Warfighters must have assured control over CCA in highly dynamic operations. Human workloads must be manageable. The Autonomous Core System, Skyborg's autonomy package was shown to be portable across multiple airframes; this has led Skyborg to become a Program of Record with a Program Executive Officer (PEO) for acquisition. Skyborg will continue to serve as a science and technology platform. Most UAVs are remotely piloted, but an AI program piloting a Collaborative combat aircraft would need a mission commander for crewed-uncrewed teaming. —Heather Penney. In 2020, DARPA AlphaDogfight established that AI programs that fly fighter aircraft will overmatch human pilots, to the extent that the AI agents even flew with fine motor control. The NGAD is anticipated to use loyal wingmen (CCAs). Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall envisions these uncrewed aircraft as performing parts of a larger mission; CCA development can be conducted in parallel with NGAD development, which has to take into account a larger set of requirements. Up to five autonomous CCAs would operate with an NGAD. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) will test their Skyborg manned-unmanned programs such as Autonomous Air Combat Operations (AACO), and  DARPA will test its Air Combat Evolution (ACE) artificial intelligence program. The System for Autonomous Control of Simulation (SACS) software for human interface is being developed by Calspan. DARPA's Longshot is an air-launched UAV meant to extend the range of a mission and reduce the risk to manned aircraft, which could then remain at standoff range; if Longshot were to use Air Combat Evolution (ACE), missiles launched from that Longshot could more effectively select targets. On March 6, 2023, DARPA chose General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) to carry out the design of the air-launched Longshot drone through Critical Design Review (CDR); a LongShot would itself carry an AMRAAM or Sidewinder missile, which greatly extends the range of these missiles. In this way, an F-15EX or similar 4th-generation fighter can greatly increase their survivability, when armed with a LongShot. GA-ASI is developing a core package (Gambit) for the CCA market. On 9 December 2022 the Air Force Test Pilot School tested its General Dynamics X-62 VISTA with 2 different AI packages. By 16 December 2022 the X-62 Vista had flown eight sorties using ACE, and six sorties using AACO, at a rate of two sorties per day. Six F-16s from Eglin AFB will be fitted with autonomy agents, to establish the foundation of the Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) program. The CCA lines of effort are currently:
Developing the Collaborative combat aircraft platform itself, 
developing the autonomy package that will fly a CCA, and 
figuring out how to organize, train, equip and supply the CCA program

Funding
A CCA is estimated to cost between one-half and one-quarter as much as an $80 million F-35. US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is aiming for an initial fleet of 1,000 CCAs. As elements of a crewed-uncrewed team, two CCAs could be teamed with an NGAD or F-35, say two for each of the 200 NGAD platforms, and two for each of the 300 F-35s, in order to work out concepts to integrate them into the service, but the full inventory could be twice that size. The 26th Secretary of the US Air Force listed CCAs among his top seven priorities for the FY2024 budget request to its Chief of staff:
Collaborative combat aircraft are entering the FY2024 presidential budget request; Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) projects are estimated to be $500 million for perhaps "100 roles" in USAF missions in FY2024. The US Air Force plans to spend more than $6 billion on its CCA programs over the next five years (2023 to 2028). List of CCAs 
Several CCAs are or have been under development. Examples include:
 GA-ASI Gambit
 General Dynamics X-62 VISTA
 Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie
 Skyborg Vanguard program entrants. See also
Loyal wingman

Notes and references 

Unmanned military aircraft
Robotics
Command and control