{"id":22966838,"date":"2026-09-17T10:31:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T08:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nato-allied-collaborative-combat-aircraft-usafe-interoperability-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:06:47","slug":"nato-allied-collaborative-combat-aircraft-usafe-interoperability-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/nato-allied-collaborative-combat-aircraft-usafe-interoperability-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO&rsquo;s Drone Wingmen: USAFE Prepares for Allied CCAs"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p>Europe has spent three years arguing about whether it should build its own fighters or keep buying American ones. The answer taking shape is neither, and it is not really about fighters at all.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>At the Air &amp; Space Forces Association\u2019s Air, Space &amp; Cyber Symposium on 15 September 2026, the commander of US Air Forces in Europe described a continent lining up to join the American Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme &mdash; while simultaneously building its own. Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds, commander of USAFE-AFAFRICA and of NATO&rsquo;s Allied Air Command, put it in the least diplomatic language available.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;I think you&rsquo;re going to see a lot more interest from other nations inside Europe about what is America doing with CCAs and how they can join this party, if you will.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds<\/strong> &mdash; commander, US Air Forces in Europe &ndash; Air Forces Africa and NATO Allied Air Command, 15 September 2026<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Germany, he said, is &ldquo;heavily involved.&rdquo; The Scandinavians and the Dutch are interested. And USAFE\u2019s job, increasingly, is making sure that when everyone turns up with their own robot wingman, the robots can talk to each other.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Who spoke:<\/strong> Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds, commander of USAFE-AFAFRICA and NATO Allied Air Command, who answered the CCA and interoperability questions; Chief Master Sgt. Joshua J. Wiener, command chief, gave opening remarks<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Where:<\/strong> AFA Air, Space &amp; Cyber Symposium, 15 September 2026<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>US target:<\/strong> At least 500 CCAs in service by 2032, per Air Force Secretary Troy Meink<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Named as interested:<\/strong> Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>European programmes running anyway:<\/strong> UK Storm Fighter, German loyal wingman, Saab A3-001, GCAP (UK, Italy, Japan)<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>USAFE&rsquo;s stated priority:<\/strong> Commonality first, then &ldquo;interoperability by design&rdquo;<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>NATO study:<\/strong> Joint Air Power Competence Centre, Kalkar, Germany, on modular CCA employment<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why Europe wants drones more than it wants fighters<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The arithmetic is brutal and it is not new. USAFE flies a fraction of the fighter force it kept in Europe during the Cold War. European air forces have been shrinking their own crewed fleets for thirty years. And the threat picture has gone the other way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Autonomous aircraft that fly alongside crewed fighters offer the one thing nobody in Europe can otherwise buy: combat mass, without a corresponding increase in aircrew, squadrons and permanently based personnel. That is the whole proposition.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>USAFE is selling it to allies with two scenarios. The defensive one has a CCA sitting inside an integrated air and missile defence network, shooting down one-way attack drones and cruise missiles so that an expensive crewed fighter does not have to. The offensive one has autonomous aircraft suppressing or destroying integrated air defences and attacking fielded forces during an incursion into NATO territory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hinds said allies want both. Which is convenient, because the American CCA is quietly becoming capable of both: Anduril released imagery only the day before showing its YFQ-44A Fury fit-checked with air-to-ground weapons, a jet designed around air-to-air work growing a strike role in public.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/hungarian-air-force-jas-39c-gripen.jpg\" alt=\"A Hungarian Air Force Saab JAS 39C Gripen with Hungarian markings on the fin\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Hungarian Air Force Gripen. Swedish-built, flown by a NATO member under lease, and cited by USAFE as evidence that European production strengthens rather than fragments the alliance. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The nightmare scenario is not Russia<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>It is thirty incompatible drones.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Britain has launched its Storm Fighter CCA programme. Germany is pursuing a separate loyal-wingman effort and wants CCAs by 2029. Saab unveiled the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/saab-acp-stealth-supersonic-fighter-drone-concept-2026\/\">A3-001<\/a>, a stealthy supersonic concept roughly the size of a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/saab-gripen\/\">Gripen<\/a> E and aimed at flying alongside it. The UK, Italy and Japan are jointly building GCAP and its associated uncrewed systems. France, having watched FCAS collapse, is pouring money into Rafale F5 and its own drone wingmen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Every one of those is a national answer to the same question. Left alone, they produce a fleet that cannot share a datalink, a weapon or a maintenance chain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;The first and foremost thing is we want to strive for commonality. Commonality means we don&rsquo;t even have to worry about interoperability.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds<\/strong> &mdash; on preventing fragmentation, 15 September 2026<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Where identical equipment is impossible &mdash; which is most of the time &mdash; USAFE wants what Hinds calls &ldquo;interoperability by design&rdquo;: NATO data standards written into national systems before they enter service, not bolted on afterwards at somebody\u2019s expense.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>He was blunt about why that matters, noting that some countries have previously bought equipment incompatible with NATO systems and then faced a choice between paying to modify it or making the alliance bend around them. Neither is a good look.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>NATO has already commissioned homework on this. The Joint Air Power Competence Centre at Kalkar in Germany has produced a study on employing CCAs modularly across the alliance, covering sustainment, training and exercises. Hinds\u2019s review of it was affectionate: &ldquo;It was a pretty long paper, but the nations wanted it.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dnXRPj93Wgo\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Saab\u2019s A3-001 full-scale model, unveiled at Malmen in August 2026, is the most concrete European answer so far &mdash; tailless, internal weapons, a General Electric F414 for supersonic speed, and a demonstrator promised within eighteen months. Sweden has not ordered it as an operational aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The kill chain that crosses four borders<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The most interesting thing Hinds described was not a drone at all. It was a sentence about who pulls the trigger.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-35-lightning-ii\/\">F-35<\/a> detects a target. It passes the track to another node on the network. A ground-based system operated by a different NATO country launches the weapon. The aircraft, the sensor, the command-and-control network and the missile need not belong to the same nation, or even the same service.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>This is not theoretical. Dutch F-35s have already used a Lockheed Martin data-exchange system called Keystone to pass targeting coordinates to Israeli-made PULS rocket artillery. A Dutch jet, an American network, an Israeli launcher.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/royal-netherlands-air-force-f-35a-lightning-ii.jpg\" alt=\"A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Lightning II in afterburner\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A. Dutch Lightnings have already passed targeting data to Israeli-built rocket artillery through an American system. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Scale that up to hundreds of autonomous aircraft, each needing a command-and-control network that any partner can plug into, and the integration problem stops being a technicality. Hinds said USAFE is making &ldquo;significant advances&rdquo; in cross-servicing, cross-loading and cross-flying allied aircraft &mdash; the unglamorous groundwork that decides whether any of this works on a bad day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The same logic applies to ordnance, and here he was refreshingly indifferent to the flag on the box.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;We want to have all the fires, right? Whether it&rsquo;s U.S. built or built inside European nations.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds<\/strong> &mdash; on European weapons production, 15 September 2026<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Not a divorce<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Asked directly whether Europe building its own aircraft and drones signals a move away from American equipment, Hinds\u2019s answer was two words: &ldquo;No, I don\u2019t.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>His framing is that the transatlantic defence-industrial base is expanding rather than splitting. Sweden, newly in NATO, keeps building Gripens, and NATO members fly them &mdash; Hungary leases Swedish jets, and others are looking. Co-manufacturing and co-production talks, he said, are something he welcomes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>There is an obvious self-interest in that view. A USAFE that has spent decades covering Europe with too few fighters does not much care whose factory the extra combat mass comes from, so long as it answers to the same network.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The aircraft are still years away. The standards that decide whether they can fight together are being written now, which is the part nobody photographs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\n<div style=\"background:#fff8e1;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:16px 20px;margin:28px 0 8px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.7\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 6px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Correction, 17 September 2026<\/p><p style=\"margin:0\">This article originally attributed the quotes and remarks below to Chief Master Sgt. Joshua J. Wiener, command chief of USAFE-AFAFRICA, following the reporting this piece was based on. US Air Forces in Europe &ndash; Air Forces Africa Public Affairs has since advised that the Collaborative Combat Aircraft and allied-interoperability answers at the roundtable were given by <strong>Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds<\/strong>, commander of USAFE-AFAFRICA and NATO Allied Air Command. Chief Wiener took part in the roundtable and delivered opening remarks. The attributions have been corrected throughout.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Sources: TWZ; Air &amp; Space Forces Association; Joint Air Power Competence Centre; Saab; Anduril; Aviation Week.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is a Collaborative Combat Aircraft?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A CCA is an uncrewed aircraft designed to fly alongside crewed fighters as an autonomous wingman, carrying sensors or weapons. The concept lets an air force add combat mass without a matching increase in pilots, squadrons and basing. The US Air Force wants at least 500 in service by 2032.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which European countries want to join the US CCA programme?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">USAFE says Germany is heavily involved, with the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries also showing interest. Germany is separately looking to field CCAs by 2029, and the Dutch are working to align more closely with US Air Force efforts while running their own national discussions.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the Saab A3-001?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A Swedish stealthy supersonic Autonomous Collaborative Platform concept, unveiled as a full-scale model at Malmen in August 2026. It is roughly the size of a Gripen E, uses a tailless blended configuration with internal weapons, and is intended to fly alongside the Gripen. Sweden has not ordered it operationally.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How will NATO stop allied drones being incompatible?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">USAFE says the priority is commonality first, because identical equipment removes the problem entirely. Where that is impossible, it wants interoperability by design, meaning NATO data standards and requirements built into national systems before they enter service rather than retrofitted later.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What missions would NATO CCAs fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">USAFE describes two scenarios. Defensively, a CCA operates inside an integrated air and missile defence network engaging one-way attack drones and cruise missiles. Offensively, autonomous aircraft suppress or destroy enemy air defences and attack fielded forces repelling an incursion into NATO territory.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can one NATO country fire a weapon using another country data?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It already happens. Dutch F-35s have used a Lockheed Martin data-exchange system called Keystone to pass targeting coordinates to Israeli-made PULS rocket artillery. USAFE describes kill chains where the aircraft, sensor, network and weapon belong to different nations.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Are European fighter programmes a move away from American equipment?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">USAFE does not think so. Asked directly, its commander said no, characterising the trend as an expansion of the transatlantic defence-industrial base rather than a separation, and pointing to Swedish Gripens already flown by NATO members such as Hungary under lease.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can civilians fly in a fighter jet in Europe?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. Civilian fast-jet flights operate in Europe in types such as the L-39 Albatros and Hawker Hunter, alongside MiG-29 supersonic and edge-of-space sorties elsewhere. MiGFlug arranges them; the current types, locations and prices are on the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">flights and prices page<\/a>.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is a Collaborative Combat Aircraft?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A CCA is an uncrewed aircraft designed to fly alongside crewed fighters as an autonomous wingman, carrying sensors or weapons. The concept lets an air force add combat mass without a matching increase in pilots, squadrons and basing. 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MiGFlug arranges them; the current types, locations and prices are on the flights and prices page.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fq-42-vengeance-fq-44-fury-usaf-500-cca-2032\/\">FQ-42 Vengeance and FQ-44 Fury: USAF Wants 500 CCAs by 2032<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/saab-acp-stealth-supersonic-fighter-drone-concept-2026\/\">Saab Reveals Its Stealthy Supersonic Fighter Drone<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/yfq-44a-fury-air-to-ground-munitions-fit-check-2026\/\">YFQ-44A Fury Fit-Checked With Air-to-Ground Bombs and Rocket Pods<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Germany is heavily involved, the Dutch and Scandinavians are interested, and everyone is building their own anyway. USAFE&rsquo;s job now is making sure the robots can talk to each other.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":22966478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22966838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NATO Drone Wingmen: USAFE Prepares for Allied CCAs | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Germany is heavily involved and the Dutch and Scandinavians are interested. 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