Secretary Troy Meink outlined goals to pair manned aircraft with low-cost autonomous systems, field large numbers of Collaborative Combat Aircraft and Mass Modular Aircraft, and speed acquisitions through new portfolio executives and open systems approaches.
The Air Force plans at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) and 500 Mass Modular Aircraft (MMAs) by 2032, with an interim MMA goal of 100 units by 2029.
Acquisition changes include 26 portfolio acquisition executives (PAEs) with delegated authorities to accelerate delivery and competition via open systems architecture.
New autonomous platforms named FQ-42 Vengeance and FQ-44 Fury are part of the push to scale crewed–uncrewed teaming and one-way autonomous weapons for special operations forces.
# What Meink announced Air Force Secretary Troy Meink described a force-design shift toward a blend of manned and uncrewed systems to increase combat capacity while responding to AI-enabled threats. His remarks outlined concrete production and acquisition targets, new platform names, and organizational changes intended to speed delivery.
# The force-design targets Meink set numerical goals tied to the next decade.
Meink also named two new autonomous airframes: the FQ-42 Vengeance and the FQ-44 Fury.
# Acquisition and organizational reforms To accelerate modernization, the Air Force restructured acquisition oversight:
# Space and supporting programs Meink framed aircraft modernization as part of a broader push that includes space capabilities:
# What this means in practice
Acquisition changes are designed to shorten procurement timelines and increase competition, with PAEs empowered to make key decisions. Open systems architecture is the primary mechanism to enable faster upgrades and broader vendor participation.
# Immediate signals to industry and operators Industry should expect clearer portfolio ownership, stronger incentives to deliver modular systems, and more opportunities if they can meet open-architecture standards and rapid delivery timelines. Operators will face doctrinal and training questions as autonomous loads and collaborative teaming become more common.
# Bottom line Meink laid out numerical production goals, named new autonomous airframes, and described an acquisition structure meant to speed fielding. The Air Force is shifting toward massed, lower-cost uncrewed capabilities working with crewed platforms while advancing space systems that support that approach.
John T. Seward is joined by Analiese Rutter of Lockheed Martin's CCA program and Jason Levin, senior vice president of engineering at Anduril Industries, whose companies showed off their designs at this year's Air, Space and Cyber Conference.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.— The Air Force Test Center is prepared to keep up with the Pentagon’s calls to buy, develop, test, and field technology quickly—but safety remains the top priority, the center’s commander said. “We always want to proceed safely forward. The work that we do, as I've noted, is, can be dangerous. So w
The Massed Modular Aircraft program envisions a $10M airframe—plus sensor and system costs.
Getting leaders and operators comfortable with agents will require new doctrine, training, and permissions.
The Air Force established a space technology portfolio executive to accelerate the transition of space capabilities to warfighters. The post Air Force Creates Space Technology Portfolio Executive Role first appeared on Executive Gov .
The War Department seeks proposed architectures that support classified data, CUI and multi-partner access controls. The post Department of War Seeks AI Tools to Track Space & Missile Threats first appeared on Executive Gov .
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