OpenTube

CCAs FAILED a Navy Wargame, So Why Does America STILL Bet the F-47 and F-22 on Them?

WARTECH EXPLAINED

43,092 views

A Naval War College wargame tore apart the drone-wingman concept: the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) lit up on radar first, flew too slow, and leaned on bases the U.S. may not hold near China. Then the Air Force ordered them into production anyway. General Atomics' YFQ-42 and Anduril's YFQ-44 Fury were cleared in June 2026, four months early, at a target price near $30 million each. This is why being wrong cheaply is the whole design, and what it means for a Pacific war against China.

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Wargame That Was Supposed to Break It
04:39 The $30 Million Answer
08:41: F-47 - The Quarterback
13:31 The Pacific: Where the Math Breaks

#CCA #F47 #F22 #NGAD #USAirForce

20 Comments

@gutstompenrocker 11 days ago

If you don't push it till it fails you will never understand what its limitations are. US contractors don't play for a participation trophy like Chinese and Russian contractors do.

@paladin0654 11 days ago

NEWS FLASH: This is exactly why war games are conducted. You don't know the details and what variables were implemented. You don't learn anything by "winning" war games, you learn by loosing and adjusting your strategy.

@patricktimothy3018 11 days ago

The US actually tests their doctrine and equipment. Unlike the Chicoms, out tests are meant to break the doctrine and the equipment. Failure teaches you far more than staged propaganda tests. We learn from them and improve.

@icare7151 10 days ago (edited)

The B 21 is what actually is going in with the CCAs.

@davidmlowery 10 days ago

We learn from failure, we will improve. As the myth busters always used to say, "Failure is always an option".

@dragonblackie444 8 days ago

drones wars is about cheap fast and masive sources lines, im consultor

@trigger4017 8 days ago

I’m starting to think Ace combat seven predicted the future

@فارسليبورد-ك8و 11 days ago

المستقبل لي الطائرات الحربية الشبحية الروبوتية متعددة المهام ❤

@j.e.schoon4339 11 days ago (edited)

Currently, even given the emergence of the J36 the F22 raptor is STILL the most dangerous air to air fighter in the world. With its low RCS it will almost always shoot first and that is decisive. Underspeccing the first gen of CCA drones was a big mistake because they become the weak link unless properly separated from manned aircraft.

@VoiceOfTheEmperor 11 days ago

The thumbnail made me think of The Darkstar in Top Gun Maverick.

@victornishimoto6029 6 days ago

This sounds like a sales pitch for total AI ?

@Interlockvision 6 days ago

The bat drone cca is steath

@brianking9543 10 days ago

You have to understand it's not money that makes a better weapon it's experience in technology

@ericb.4358 1 day ago

All these shortcomings can be overcome - at a $$$price$$$. Stealth coating, better engines, larger airframe for more fuel, etc.
The drones that MUST be built are TANKER REFUELING DRONES!

@MrHawaiian5 11 days ago

I think a big part will be the child that everyone forgets about, yet it still has one of the smallest rcs or whatever you call it for stealth. The F-117 . Not sure if I got that correct. But basically, I see our Air Force utilizing the first stealth fighter to maybe help control these unmanned jets.