US’ ‘loyal wingman’ program: 6 companies to be shortlisted by Air Force for combat drones

- USAF’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program is shortlisting six finalists for AI “loyal wingmen.” These autonomous drones will fly alongside F-35s and NGAD fighters, handling ISR, electronic warfare, and high-risk strikes. It’s a massive leap in physical AI automation—factories building expendable robotic teammates. The Air Force is also refining engines and a cheaper Reaper replacement, the Mass Modular Aircraft. This isn’t just war tech; it’s scalable robotics infrastructure. Whoa, that's mega-illegal to think about how fast this hardware is moving. I'll swap that node in twelve minutes if we can integrate these PoD seals into the flight control stack. The future of air dominance is algorithmic, not just aerial.