{"id":23538,"date":"2020-12-21T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T09:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/21\/the-importance-of-advancing-loyal-wingman-technology\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:59:24","slug":"the-importance-of-advancing-loyal-wingman-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2020\/12\/21\/the-importance-of-advancing-loyal-wingman-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"The importance of advancing loyal wingman technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Nov. 11, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency revealed it had recently awarded five companies contracts to develop artificial intelligence agents to enable \u201cmixed teams of manned and unmanned combat aircraft to conduct aerial dogfighting autonomously.\u201d The announcement signaled the next phase of the Air Combat Evolution, or ACE, program that in August delivered the AlphaDogfight challenge in which an AI agent defeated a human-piloted F-16 in a series of five virtual dogfights<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge and contracts are both important steps forward for human-machine teaming<\/a> and come at the end of a busy and consequential year globally for the development and demonstration of the sort of \u201cloyal wingman\u201d-type programs ACE is seeking to facilitate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These concepts are already shaping the future of air combat and, in the process, transforming expectations for force structures of militaries throughout the world as they manage the mounting tension between an expanding mission set and the growing cost of advanced equipment to carry out these discrete missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loyal wingman concepts pair a crewed fighter jet with a team of capable but also uncrewed low-cost, attritable aircraft, or LCAA. Each of the uncrewed aircraft can fly forward of its crewed partner and is equipped with a mission-specific payload such as sensors, weapons or electronic warfare capabilities. These aircraft can also serve as low-cost decoys to help identify and overwhelm enemy air defenses, or draw fires away from crewed aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building these teams conveys a range of operational advantages. Most notably, they serve as powerful force multipliers that will both amplify and optimize the advanced capabilities of crewed aircraft, especially stealthy, fifth-generation aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an October report from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies<\/a>, low-cost, attritable aircraft \u201ccould extend the effective sensor range and kill radius of F-22s, F-35As, and [Next-Generation Air Dominance assets], allowing smaller numbers to cover larger areas of the battlespace and kill more threats per sortie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the F-35\u2032s sensor fusion capability as well as its ability to send and receive critical data across domains \u2014 which was demonstrated earlier this year during Army tests at Yuma Proving Ground<\/a> \u2014 will be crucial to interacting with and exploiting the information from forward-deployed LCAA and, ultimately, turning pilots into high-impact mission managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advantages of this form of human-machine teaming appeal to militaries throughout the world. China has expressed interest, though work in closely related drone swarming technologies<\/a> has matured more quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia has shown more progress. In September 2019, Russia announced<\/a> a successful test flight of a Su-57 fifth-generation combat aircraft teamed with an S-70 Okhotnik UAV. A year later, Russian defense contractor Kronstadt Group revealed<\/a> the Grom uncrewed combat aerial vehicle at the Army-2020 exhibition outside Moscow. The Grom is expected to team with both the Su-35 and Su-57 fighters to provide suppression of enemy air defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the United Kingdom and Japan have announced similar programs, though among U.S. allies, Australia has moved the furthest and fastest in this critical technology area. In May, the Royal Australian Air Force and Boeing Australia demonstrated the first of three prototype uncrewed aircraft being developed as part of the Airpower Teaming System program, which will be teamed with the F-35 and E-7. The Royal Australian Air Force has also conducted engine and runway taxi tests in preparation for a test flight in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to DARPA\u2019s ACE initiative, the U.S. Air Force\u2019s Skyborg program<\/a> and LCAA development efforts have also achieved important milestones in 2020. Notably, the XQ-58 Valkyrie LCAA completed a successful test flight in April. The Air Force has also announced several rounds of contract awards as part of the Skyborg program<\/a>, including to Boeing, General Atomics and Kratos, to support \u201coperational experimentation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t