Key Points and Summary on F-22 Drones – The U.S. Air Force is upgrading its entire fleet of F-22 Raptors to act as airborne command centers for AI-enabled “loyal wingman” drones.
-Starting in 2026, the elite stealth fighters will be retrofitted with new tablet-based hardware, allowing pilots to control Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) in combat.
-This move is a major step in the Air Force’s push toward manned-unmanned teaming.
-While some experts question the feasibility of a single pilot managing multiple drones in a high-speed dogfight, the Air Force sees it as a critical leap to keep the aging but still formidable F-22 relevant for decades.
F-22 Raptors Will Be First to Control Combat Drones
The U.S. Air Force is giving its most elite fighter jets a big new job: controlling highly autonomous drones in future combat.
From 2026, every single combat-ready F-22 Raptor is set to be upscaled so they can act as airborne command centers for “loyal wingman” drones.
New Tablet Tech
This shift is part of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) plan, which would work toward pairing human-piloted jets with AI drones about to radar-jam, launch weapons and scout ahead, lowering risk to pilots.
More than $15 million is set to be spent on new tablet-based hardware in some 143 F-22s .
That works out to about $86,000 per kit—including the tablet, cables, communication tools, and integration work. It is a surprisingly small price tag for what could be a major leap in aerial warfare.
The F-22’s existing encrypted data-sharing system will likely serve as the backbone for drone communication, at least for now.
Meanwhile, drone prototypes—like General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A—are still in development, with the first models expected to join the Air Force before the decade’s end.
The plan is to eventually field over 1,000 of these drones across multiple aircraft platforms.
Hurdles Ahead?
But it is not as simple as handing a pilot a tablet. Some in the defense community have raised doubts about how effective it will be to manage drones from the cockpit of a high-speed fighter jet.
As one General Atomics executive put it, “It was really hard to fly the airplane, let alone manage the weapon system and think spatially and temporally about the other thing.”
Still, the Air Force sees tablets as a practical way to begin testing the concept.
More advanced, built-in solutions may follow. Lockheed Martin—maker of the F-22 and F-35—has already demonstrated drone control from a touchscreen interface, showing that pilots can direct multiple drones from inside their jet.
The $62 Million Price Tag
Behind the scenes, the Air Force is also scaling up its drone testing units. Its Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) is now a full squadron, and Project VENOM is upgrading F-16s to test autonomous behaviors like formation flying and electronic warfare.
The 2026 budget includes nearly $62 million to support these efforts.
In short, the Air Force is not just tinkering—it is laying the foundation for a new era of combat.
If all goes to plan, tomorrow’s fighter pilot may not fly alone, but as the leader of a small team of intelligent, coordinated drones.
For the aging but still formidable F-22, this upgrade could be the key to staying relevant in the battles of the 2030s and beyond.
About the Author:
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
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