The U.S. Navy issued a request for information Aug. 31 seeking industry proposals for its first increment of carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft, autonomous uncrewed aircraft intended to operate alongside current and future carrier aircraft. The Navy wants two fully functional prototypes capable of meeting shore-based carrier certification requirements within three years of an agreement award.
The aircraft must be compatible with Gerald R. Ford- and Nimitz-class carriers and perform catapult takeoffs and arrested landings. Requirements also call for designs capable of carrying four externally mounted weapons weighing up to 2,500 pounds each.
The Navy has set an affordability goal of $30 million per aircraft and wants the designs to take up no more deck and hangar space than an existing fourth-generation fighter.
The aircraft would use the Navy’s existing MD-5 Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System and support single- and multi-aircraft strike missions. Stars and Stripes reported that the program is intended to add range and weapons capacity to carrier air wings while supporting operations alongside fourth- and fifth-generation crewed aircraft. Industry responses are due Sept. 18.
