U.S. Becomes 1st Country To Classify Armed Drones As Fighters! Can They Replace Or Augment Combat Jets?

Air Marshal Anil Chopra

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The two prototype aircraft, the YFQ-42A developed by General Atomics and the YFQ-44A from Anduril Industries, are the first uncrewed aircraft to receive a fighter designation.

Under Air Force naming conventions, the “Y” indicates a prototype, “F” stands for fighter, and “Q” signifies an unmanned system. Once these aircraft transition into production, the “Y” will be dropped from their names.

The CCA program aims to integrate autonomous drones as “loyal wingmen” to fly alongside manned fighters like the F-35 Lightning II.

Time To Replace Fighter Jets?

Elon Musk has suggested that drones should replace fighter jets. However, some say that drones would need to have the same electronics as fighter jets, which would make them expensive. Clearly more and more tasks are being gradually shifted to drones. Still, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are not likely to replace fighter jets anytime soon.

However, drones will fly alongside and in coordination with fighter jets and other combat platforms, taking on specific combat and combat-support tasks.