CUTTING EDGE

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE OF AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY

USAF F-35s AND F-15s COULD GET DRONE WINGMEN

THE US AIR Force has identified the manned fighters that, in coming years, could get robotic wingmen. A new version of the air force’s F-35A stealth fighter, as well as the heavily upgraded version of the F-15 that the flying branch hopes to acquire, both could function as flight leads for the service’s Skyborg wingman drones, Will Roper, the air force’s top weapons-buyer, told Defense News reporter Valerie Insinna. Roper’s statement implies that other USAF fighter types such as F-16s and older F-35s and F-15s likely won’t function as drone flight leads.

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