▎CCA Protocols
Loyal Wingman Concept
Doctrinal pattern of pairing autonomous uncrewed aircraft with crewed lead.
Definition
Loyal Wingman is the operating concept underlying CCA and allied programs (Australia's MQ-28 Ghost Bat, UK's LANCA / Mosquito, France/Germany's Remote Carriers). A crewed lead delegates tasks—escort, sensing, jamming, decoy, strike—to one or more autonomous wingmen using mission-level intent rather than stick-and-rudder control. The concept demands resilient datalinks, on-board autonomy, and tightly bounded behaviors.
Reference attributes
- Allied analogues
- MQ-28 Ghost Bat, LANCA, Remote Carriers
- Control mode
- Mission-level intent
- Autonomy locus
- Onboard
- Doctrinal home
- Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T)
Related terms
- Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)U.S. Air Force program for affordable, autonomous wingmen teamed with crewed fighters.
- Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T)Doctrinal and technical framework for cooperative crewed-uncrewed operations.
- SkyborgU.S. Air Force autonomy core program that seeded the Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative.
#doctrine#autonomy#mum-t