With small fleets of costly 4.5- and 5th-generation fighters, coupled with tight defence budgets, air forces around the world are increasingly viewing collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) – or “loyal wingmen” – as an affordable means of generating mass while undertaking dull, dirty and dangerous missions.
Carrying sensors and weapons, CCAs are intended to operate as extensions of their crewed counterparts. They can operate semi-autonomously with man-in/on-the-loop control architecture, or even fully autonomously if required.
CCAs – at least those being developed by the US under Increment 1– are built around fundamentally different concepts of operations, deployment and sustainment compared with manned fighter aircraft, but much still needs to be ironed out.
In the Asia-Pacific region, many countries are studying CCAs, while Australia and China are further along in their plans to adopt such platforms into their force structure.
The Royal Australian Air Force has committed to Boeing Defence Australia’s MQ-28A Ghost Bat as its CCA. In December 2025 it announced an A$1.4 billion (US$930 million) investment to transition the Ghost Bat into an operational platform.
This includes new contracts for an additional six Block 2 MQ-28As and the development of an enhanced Block 3 prototype. Combined with earlier contracts, Australia is expected to receive its first three Block 2 aircraft by the end of 2026, with the total Ghost Bat fleet projected to grow to ten aircraft by 2030.
China is also believed to have multiple types of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) and CCAs, either in development or undergoing operational trials with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
During a major military parade in September 2025, China showcased four uncrewed aircraft designs, including two described as “loyal wingman” drones, and another two identified as “unmanned air dominance fighters”.
Japan is another country in the region that has shown interest in CCAs. Since 2023 it has conducted joint research with the US Department of Defense and Boeing on artificial intelligence technologies for CCA integration with crewed fighters, as well as on CCA simulation testing.
In April this year, Japanese CCA research formally expanded beyond the USA to include Australia, when an agreement was signed between the two countries. This will enable Japan to collaborate using the MQ-28A, and the partnership will provide Japan with further insight into CCA operations and manned-unmanned teaming technologies.
Anticipating a Republic of Korea Air Force CCA programme in the future, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is developing the medium CCA (MUCCA) and small unmanned combat aircraft (SUCA) concepts under its Next-Generation Aerial Combat System programme. These have maximum take-off weights of 5,420kg and 220kg respectively.
Citing a lack of know-how, Taiwan’s state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) shelved its next-generation fighter programme – known as the Advanced Defense Fighter – and it is reportedly shifting its focus to CCAs.
NCSIST has reportedly reached out to Kratos to explore collaboration in development of CCAs, using the American company’s XQ-58A Valkyrie as a baseline. It hopes to incorporate the domestically produced ITEC TFE-1042-70 turbofan engine, or a derivative of it, along with an indigenously developed active electronically scanned array radar in the XQ-58A.
NCSIST and Kratos have an existing relationship working on the Chien Feng IV (Mighty Hornet IV) low-cost cruise missile, based on the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone and its Airwolf combat drone derivative.
However, Shield AI’s X-Bat could also emerge as an alternative, with the company indicating that Taiwan is among target markets for its vertical-take-off-and-landing combat drone. Such a runway-independent design could prove advantageous for Taiwan, given the vulnerability of the island’s airbases to China’s long-range missiles and rockets.
In India, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is working on the Combat Air Teaming System (CATS), which is intended to operate alongside the Indian Air Force’s existing fighter fleet. The CATS Warrior is the first of a family of four platforms currently under development.
At Singapore Airshow 2026 earlier this year, Asian Military Review spoke with several companies offering CCAs – including Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics and Shield AI – all of which highlighted significant potential for such platforms in Asia-Pacific. Each said they were engaged in discussions with a number of countries in the region.
by Roy Choo
