(10-13-2025, 05:11 PM)Blackfingers Wrote: Firefighters on base...
Hey where are all the hydrants now we cant see them?

They damn near had several accidents responding to IFEs with other trucks almost hitting them when it was a late night/early morning response.

(10-13-2025, 05:17 PM)Tecate Wrote: Seriously though, great idea as long as there’s no short range EMP type weapons for taking out the drone fleet, no?

I would imagine that the manned aircraft are hardened enough against that possibility, considering the cost of the aircraft, but are the drones hardened sufficiently as well?

Just asking because it popped into my head and figured I’d ask you folks first, than try my lame-ass google-fu skills.


Tecate

All military equipment is required to be hardened against EMP.

(10-13-2025, 05:11 PM)Blackfingers Wrote: Firefighters on base...
Hey where are all the hydrants now we cant see them?

They damn bear had several accidents responding to IFEs with other trucks almost hitting them when it was a late night/early morning response.

(10-13-2025, 05:17 PM)Tecate Wrote: I would imagine that the manned aircraft are hardened enough against that possibility, considering the cost of the aircraft, but are the drones hardened sufficiently as well?

If a CCA is cleared to fly alongside a fighter jet in the same combat space, it's almost certainly hardened. The Pentagon runs what’s called the E3 program, which covers electromagnetic environmental effects, and the standards for that are spelled out in MIL-STD-461 and MIL-STD-464. Those standards determine how much shielding, grounding, and filtering a system needs so it does not go haywire when it is surrounded by powerful radar and datalink signals and other EMI.

Manned aircraft are built to those specs by default, and the Air Force would never let a CCA share that airspace unless it could handle the same electromagnetic chaos safely. The cheaper, throwaway drones (Kratos?) that go out front may skip some of that hardening, but anything flying near manned fighters (YFQ-42A, YFQ-44A and Vectis) will meet those MIL standards and be tested to make sure it stays stable and predictable.

(10-13-2025, 03:23 PM)Zaphod58 Wrote: And painting everything on base, including fire trucks and hydrants earth tones.  But yes, yes it would.

The idea of painting HYDRANTS to blend in… Not only is that borderline retarded and incredibly dangerous, I can actually speak from experience as to how dreadfully dangerous it is. 

I was a firefighter/paramedic for 20 years here in NE Florida. One of the hoods I responded to was the mean streets of TPC Sawgrass. TPC, as in “The Players Championship” in Ponte Vedra. Someone in there with clout once took it upon themselves to go around and start removing the reflectors we had placed in the road in front of every hydrant in the county (so we could ID the hydrant location from FAR away) and then plant actual sawgrass in front of the hydrants because “they are so unsightly”. 

I’ll give the class one guess as to what happened the first time we had a fire alarm in there… Pandemonium at 2am. Funny though… No one ever got in trouble for endangering the entire neighborhood.

Thanks Signal Witch!

The explanation makes sense to me now. I kind of expected as much, but getting the right information helped.

Tecate

(10-12-2025, 08:58 PM)Signal Witch Wrote: USAF Considering Standalone CCA Squadrons

[Image: https://denyignorance.com/uploader/image...Q-42A.webp]


Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, nominee for Chief of Staff of the Air Force, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the service is looking at forming dedicated squadrons composed entirely of Collaborative Combat Aircraft instead of embedding them in existing fighter units.
 
The idea is to let CCA units operate independently but team with manned aircraft when needed. Wilsbach said this approach would open new basing options and possibly make use of underutilized installations. He also noted that Active Duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve components are being considered as potential hosts. The Air Force has already stood up an Experimental Operations Unit to refine tactics and logistics for CCA operations.
 
The General Atomics YFQ-42A has completed its first flight, and the Anduril YFQ-44A is expected to fly by year’s end. Increment 1 production decisions are approaching, with Increment 2 prototype contracts expected in fiscal 2026.

The Marine Corps is taking a different path, planning to integrate its runway-based Kratos XQ-58 variant directly into F-35B squadrons instead of creating separate drone units.

[Image: https://denyignorance.com/uploader/images/kratos.jpg]
 
My Thoughts

This would give the Air Force real tactical flexibility. CCAs could launch faster than piloted squadrons, get aloft ahead of the manned jets, and be first on station to probe defenses or literally kick the door down. They can take the initial heat and accept losses that would be unacceptable for crewed aircraft, while combined manned and CCA formations follow in to exploit the openings.
 
The tricky part remains integration. Separate drone squadrons add layers of coordination, extra logistics, and a heavy dependence on data links that must keep working under pressure. If those links fail or command pathways are unclear, manned and unmanned forces can end up out of sync when it matters most.
 
Still, I like the strategy. Treating CCAs as firstclass assets, fielded at scale and used intentionally, is exactly what it will take to make manned/unmanned teaming more than a gimmick.  

And as long as we keep the software updates fresh maybe Skynet won't take over. 

I think anyone can see, regardless of their branch training or thoughts on unmanned, that this is a very smart idea. Especially in regards to first on station for combat recon and taking acceptable losses before manned aircraft get there. 
RE the data links that is always the issue. Imagine turning these against the owner .

The YFQ-44A made its first flight this morning.

(10-31-2025, 02:48 PM)Zaphod58 Wrote: The YFQ-44A made its first flight this morning.

[Image: https://denyignorance.com/uploader/image...AAiMTC.jpg]

That is one bad ass frame!
I bet it can't drop guided munitions?!?!

(10-31-2025, 02:56 PM)RichardHurt Wrote: That is one bad ass frame!
I bet it can't drop guided munitions?!?!

The CCA will be able to use just about every weapon in the current inventory.