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| Science & Technology |
| Navy Fighter Pilots Need To Gain Trust In Pilotless Wingmen By Actually Flying With Them |
| 2025-08-25 |
| [TWZ] A Navy strike fighter instructor says naval aviators will need a lot more than virtual training to have faith in their new drone companions. Naval aviators need to be able to trust any future drone wingmen as much as their human counterparts, a U.S. Navy strike fighter tactics instructor has told TWZ. This echoes past comments from members of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps, and is set to be a critical factor in turning the Navy’s still very nascent and evolving crewed-uncrewed teaming vision into a reality. Navy Lt. Cdr. Mark “Tugboat” Jbeily talked about ‘loyal wingman’ type drones, now commonly called Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), and crewed-uncrewed teaming, and how they factor into his service’s plans for future carrier air wings, with our Jamie Hunter at the Tailhook Association’s annual symposium today. Jbeily is a career F/A-18 pilot and TOPGUN graduate currently assigned as an instructor to the Strike Fighter Weapons School, Pacific (SFWSPAC) at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. “I think, currently, we’re [the Navy] still figuring out exactly what the specific type of [CCA] platform is going to look like, how it’s going to integrate into the air wing, [and] how we’re going to use it for maximal advantage,” Jbeily explained. “But I think some common themes … are going to be consistent regardless of the specific platform, range, vendor, whatever it is.” “You know, the wings on your chest are a sign of trust, ultimately, right? They represent that you’ve been through an established training pipeline. You’re going to behave in a predictable manner, in a standardized manner. We can trust you with this awesome power of an F-18 or F-35,” he continued. “How do we take that concept of trust and now bring it to collaborative autonomy, or manned-unmanned teaming? How do we train to get them comfortable so, in the same way that if you and I were flying, if you were my wingman, I would know you’re going to behave in a repeatable, consistent [manner]?” “I can have insight on your behaviors. We can do a thorough debrief about why did you do this or why did you do that?” Jbeily added. “And the key, I think, is going to be, regardless of the specific platform, how do we build that element of trust, and how do we get folks comfortable to be able to use it in a combat scenario if we have to.” The video below from Collins Aerospace offers a vision of what a future conflict involving U.S. CCAs, including ones launched from carriers, teamed up with crewed fighters might look like. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #3 Exactly how are they going to make the drones unjammable and, more importantly, un-hackable by a near Peer adversary? Hmmm? |
| Posted by: magpie 2025-08-25 17:18 |
| #2 Not just pilots. "Hey Grunt, take this robot carrying a machine gun with you when you go on patrol." Who wants to try that out? Hands? |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2025-08-25 08:23 |
| #1 ...It's going to be years - maybe a decade or more - before Naval Aviators trust CCAs once they happen. Anybody thinking, "Hey, we're just gonna drop these on the fleet," is in for a rude surprise. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2025-08-25 06:29 |