These two companies are developing drone wingmen for the US Air Force

The U.S. Air Force announced on Wednesday that Anduril and General Atomics were selected to continue designing, building, and testing its first batch of drone wingmen, known as collaborative combat aircraft (CCA). The Air Force aims to create drones using autonomous software to fly alongside piloted fighters like the F-35 and Next Generation Air Dominance system.
The CCA program is a key effort for the Air Force to modernize its fleet with advanced capabilities to expand the reach of crewed planes. Anduril and General Atomics will further develop detailed designs of their CCA concepts and build production-representative test aircraft for the Air Force.
The service plans to have at least 1,000 CCAs in its fleet, with multiple types of drone wingmen with varying capabilities and levels of survivability. The Air Force expects to make a decision on a contract to produce the first increment of CCAs in fiscal 2026.
Continuous competition is a cornerstone of the CCA program, with ongoing collaboration between industry and government to accelerate its progress. The Air Force is already planning to develop the second increment of CCAs, with activities for this next increment starting later this year.