Andrew Hunter: Air Force Will Experience Inconsistent Progress With CCA

The assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics said the military branch’s collaborative combat aircraft effort will progress but will come with inconsistencies.

Andrew Hunter, a 2023 Wash100 winner and a past Potomac Officers Club speaker, said the Air Force is taking an incremental approach to the CCA, meaning the service could be faced with problem sets with varying levels of difficulty as it moves along. Hunter also pointed out that while the Air Force wants to get CCA drones fielded by the late 2020s, the service will not rush through the development, acquisition, engineering and fielding processes.

The Air Force plans to field the first tranche of CCA drones by the end of the fiscal year 2028. Hunter also suggested that multiple companies will participate in CCA-related contract competitions, DefenseScoop reported.

Hunter’s comments on the CCA build on other Air Force official’s comments about the program.

In August, Brig. Gen. Dale White, program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft at the Air Force, urged contractors to produce CCAs before the end of 2030. White said the drones should be interoperable and must work alongside manned aircraft operated by the Air Force and the U.S. Navy.