{"id":81363,"date":"2026-07-20T11:59:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/07\/20\/as-fighter-pilots-prepare-to-command-drone-wingmen-bae-bets-on-new-helmet-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:23:52","slug":"as-fighter-pilots-prepare-to-command-drone-wingmen-bae-bets-on-new-helmet-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/20\/as-fighter-pilots-prepare-to-command-drone-wingmen-bae-bets-on-new-helmet-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"As fighter pilots prepare to command drone wingmen, BAE bets on new helmet tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LONDON &#8211; As militaries prepare for a new age of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/15\/air-force-completes-first-ever-cca-live-fire-test-with-anduril-yfq-44a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/15\/air-force-completes-first-ever-cca-live-fire-test-with-anduril-yfq-44a\/\">air combat<\/a> defined by ever-evolving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/17\/let-the-ai-do-it-former-air-force-secretary-pits-machine-against-human-operators\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/17\/let-the-ai-do-it-former-air-force-secretary-pits-machine-against-human-operators\/\">unmanned aerial systems<\/a>, one defense company is betting that the workload of fighter pilots will swell far beyond flying an aircraft to include directing swarms of drones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2026\/07\/17\/wars-shift-focus-from-jets-to-weapons-at-giant-farnborough-airshow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2026\/07\/17\/wars-shift-focus-from-jets-to-weapons-at-giant-farnborough-airshow\/\">Farnborough Airshow<\/a> this week in London, BAE Systems unveiled a helmet-mounted prototype it says is intended to explore how future pilots may be able to operate under battlefield conditions they anticipate to be saturated with unprecedented amounts of data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Called Project Intuity, the demonstrator is intended to help pilots manage input from multiple sources by projecting information onto the helmet\u2019s visor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs allies move towards aircraft that act as combat command centers, future operations will demand that pilots process more information from more sources than ever before,\u201d Andrew Macklin-Smith, the company\u2019s product line director for helmet-mounted displays, said in a release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThrough Project Intuity, we\u2019re addressing that challenge by integrating the technologies to allow pilots to command fleets of drones in the skies,\u201d he added. \u201cThis system will achieve that by filtering and presenting the most important information clearly and within the pilot\u2019s natural field of view.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BAE did not yet say whether the demonstrator is tied to a specific program or provide a timeline for when this technology could enter service but the project comes as the U.S. is experimenting with having pilots command drone wingmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During an exercise last summer, Air Force pilots <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/newsletters\/2025\/07\/09\/fighter-pilots-integrate-drones-into-air-combat-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">controlled<\/a> Valkyrie drones during flight and in January, the Navy announced that F-35 pilots had used <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/unmanned\/2026\/01\/09\/navy-f-35-pilots-train-to-wield-drones-with-touchscreen-tablets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">touchscreen<\/a> tablets to control uncrewed autonomous drones during training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cModern warfare is demanding more from our aviators,\u201d Rear Adm. Todd Evans, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, said in a release about the Navy\u2019s human-machine teaming milestone. The exercise, he added, gave pilots \u201cthe advanced tactics they need to win future battles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force has for years broached the possibility of integrating drone wingmen \u2014 used for reconnaissance, electronic warfare and attacks \u2014 alongside fighter jets. The teaming, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/air\/2022\/02\/13\/how-autonomous-wingmen-will-help-fighter-pilots-in-the-next-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/air\/2022\/02\/13\/how-autonomous-wingmen-will-help-fighter-pilots-in-the-next-war\/\">experts have said<\/a>, would make the difference in between winning or losing wars against advanced adversaries like China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a first this year, the Air Force asked Congress for nearly $1 billion to start procuring Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, a fleet of jet-powered, semi-autonomous drones fly alongside crewed aircraft like the F-35 and F-22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service\u2019s national plan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/IF12740\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/IF12740\">pairs<\/a> two CCA with each fighter jet, but testing suggests pilots may be able to command higher numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force logged another CCA milestone recently when it conducted its first-ever live-fire test using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/15\/air-force-completes-first-ever-cca-live-fire-test-with-anduril-yfq-44a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/15\/air-force-completes-first-ever-cca-live-fire-test-with-anduril-yfq-44a\/\">Anduril-made YFQ-44A<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BAE says its prototype is designed with flexible architecture so that novel and emerging components \u2014 such as eye tracking capabilities and new optics \u2014 can be added or replaced over time. Currently, it combines head tracking and 3D audio cueing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the company, the demonstrator\u2019s visor has twice the display area of current helmet-mounted systems and what it describes as \u201cquad high-definition resolution.\u201d The bigger display is aimed at keeping pilots\u2019 eyes directed at the skies, with information within their field of view, and thus reducing their need to look down at cockpit instruments during flight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company said it already has more than 1,000 helmet-mounted displays in use in 10 different countries, but that this is lighter than other models. BAE did not give design specifications, but attributed the drop in heaviness to new materials and better microelectronics, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technology tested through prototypes could eventually be integrated into new helmet-mounted systems or added to existing ones. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BAE Systems unveiled new helmet display technology designed to enable fighter pilots to be one-person command centers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":149,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,149,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3416],"class_list":["post-81363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-techwatch","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GWC2IFFYSBCJNLTTLX4KDU73AU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2026\/07\/20\/as-fighter-pilots-prepare-to-command-drone-wingmen-bae-bets-on-new-helmet-tech\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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