Naomi Cooper
Lockheed Martin‘s Skunk Works has unveiled a manned-unmanned teaming concept aimed at helping the U.S. Air Force team up its piloted fighters with future autonomous systems, Defense News reported Friday.
John Clark, vice president and general manager of Skunk Works, said the company proposes a distributed teaming concept wherein a diverse group of uncrewed systems work with manned fighters to strengthen the U.S. military’s air defenses.
Each of the autonomous aircraft will be used to complement the piloted fighter and focus on specific mission areas, including electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Clark said Skunk Works is working on developing expandable drones that could become available for the Air Force in as early as three years and more advanced systems that could emerge in the 2030s.
Speaking at a briefing with reporters before the Farnborough Airshow, Clark explained that the advanced systems will have the ability to return to bases established under the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept.
