Image source: topwar.ru
The command of the US Navy plans to have an unmanned "joint action combat aircraft" (CCA) in service, similar to the one being developed by the Air Force. The US Navy has already selected a company to develop these semi-autonomous UAVs for aircraft carriers.
This information was published by the Defense Industry Europe portal.
This project is being undertaken by the American General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASi), which is creating a similar attack drone for the US Air Force.
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Now the Navy has decided to sign a contract with her. When creating such a UAV, the company intends to pay special attention to the modularity of the device, which will allow it to be quickly rebuilt and upgraded depending on the missions. Among them are operations as part of aircraft carrier groups. The drone will have to provide support to manned aircraft and perform high-risk tasks.
In August, the US Air Force began flight tests of a similar device, the YFQ-42A, which was also created by GA-ASi. Recalling this, the head of the company, David Alexander, thanked the command of the US Navy for their trust and stated that no one has such experience in creating CCA as General Atomics.
Image source: topwar.ru
The company has already produced more than two dozen types of drones and delivered more than 1,200 UAV units to consumers. The total flight time of this fleet is approximately nine million hours. There are at least 50 aircraft manufactured by GA-ASi in the air at any given time.