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US Air Force seeks nearly $1B in initial Congressional funding to start Collaborative Combat Aircraft ("loyal wingman") procurem

For the first time, the U.S. Air Force is asking Congress to fund the purchase of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs), marking the transition from prototypes to production. The request—nearly $1 billion for initial procurement—signals the start of the “loyal wingman” era and moves CCA toward fielding.

Discovered 2026-04-30T11:31:48.488041-07:00 | 2026-04-30T11:31:48.488041-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

This is the first move to convert Collaborative Combat Aircraft from prototyping into funded procurement, with nearly $1B requested for initial buys—an inflection point for the programme’s acquisition timeline.
It follows earlier steps to select the first CCA uncrewed fighter and mission-autonomy software by year-end 2026 (USAF to pick first Collaborative Combat Aircraft uncrewed fighter and autonomy software by year-end 2026), tightening the bridge from technology demonstrations to production fielding.
The funding request also builds on the CCA industrial base setup, including prototype engine design contracts for CCAs and other unmanned systems (USAF awards prototype-engine design contracts for CCAs to GE/Kratos and Honeywell), making budget approval a key lever for scaling the supply chain.

Reported By

interestingengineering.com defcrosnews.com aerospaceglobalnews.com news.ssbcrack.com DefenseNews.com AirForceTimes