UAV Development & Drone Programs Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy Military Aircraft Procurement Defense Industry & Major Contractors

US Air Force selects two industry partners for autonomous “drone jet fighter” program aimed at deep-strike support

The US Air Force has agreed to deals with two companies for a new generation of autonomous drone jet fighters designed to help manned warplanes strike targets deep in enemy territory. The initiative signals a move to accelerate uncrewed, mission-led capabilities to augment contested penetrations.

Discovered 2026-06-18T15:51:43.409866-07:00 | 2026-06-18T15:51:43.409866-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

This procurement deepens the Air Force’s shift from single-platform unmanned ISR and strike concepts toward a collaborative, autonomy-driven “manned + uncrewed” force—expanding the work underway in programs like Shield AI’s X-Bat.
It adds another data point to how US lawmakers and the service are pushing drone fleet growth and mission expansion, building on the momentum behind platforms such as MQ-9 Reaper’s expanded roles.
For defense primes and autonomy specialists, two-company contracting creates an near-term competitive field for deep-strike teaming architectures, echoing how other “loyal-wingman” concepts are taking shape at the program level, including Airbus’s U760 Ravenstorm concept.

Reported By

Military Times DefenseNews.com AirForceTimes defensa.com dronelife.com Wall Street Journal