Air Force Seeks Autonomous Fighter Able to Shoot Down Aircraft

As reported by Military & Aerospace Electronics, officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., issued a request for information (RFI-RIKD-22-03) in mid-June for the Low Collateral Effects Interceptor (LCEI) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) project. The LCEI will be an autonomous aircraft with avionics, sensors and hard-kill systems effective against groups 1, 2, and smaller group 3 aircraft. These types of aircraft range from as small as a six-seat twin-engine general-aviation aircraft to as large as a Boeing 737 passenger jet. The purpose of this RFI is to help Air Force researchers plan for a possible future acquisition strategy and solicitation that could be issued as early as next year. Testing of this kind of autonomous fighter will require the contractor to integrate the test aircraft with ground sensors and truth data systems. The Government will provide red team targets, a test range, logistics support, and data collection at the initial flight assessment. Interested parties should email 10-page white papers to designated Air Force recipients no later than 8 July 2022. For details, please see the news update at militaryaerospace.com.

Thanks to CDR David Place (USN/Ret), davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com, and Robin E. Alexander, President ATC, alexander technical[at]gmail[dot]com, for their assistance with this report, the background for which appeared in their # 22 - 12 - 29 JUNE 2022 edition of the UNMANNED SYSTEMS NEWS (USN).