{"id":2097,"date":"2026-06-16T07:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T07:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2097"},"modified":"2026-06-16T07:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T07:36:50","slug":"as-europe-rearms-wingman-aircraft-take-centre-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2097","title":{"rendered":"As Europe rearms, &#8216;wingman&#8217; aircraft take centre stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><ul><li>Summary<\/li><li>Companies<\/li><\/ul><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div>BERLIN, June 16 (Reuters) &#8211; Centre stage at last week&#8217;s Berlin airshow was the &#8220;wingman&#8221; \u200cdrone, Europe&#8217;s latest-generation defence weapon designed to accompany fighter jets.<\/div><div>As the war in Ukraine in particular has underscored the growing importance of drones and electronic warfare, European and U.S. defence forces are rapidly developing their own AI-powered drones to complement their fighter jets and carry \u200bextra sensors, jammers and weapons.<\/div><div>In Berlin, four companies &#8211; Airbus (AIR.PA)<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span>, Boeing (BA.N)<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span>, Helsing and General Atomics &#8211; were looking to \u200btout their latest designs of the technology to Germany&#8217;s military and beyond.<\/div><div>Wingman drones, sometimes referred \u2060to as wingman aircraft, are known as collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and range in size from small interceptors to being \u200bas big as planes. They fly in what is known as a &#8220;loyal wingman&#8221; system as they flank manned aircraft.<\/div><div>Investment in \u200bthe technology comes as Europe faces a debate over the value of building its own sovereign defence industry and reducing reliance on the United States.<\/div><div>&#8220;The AI agent, of course, the brain of these systems, needs to be controlled in a sovereign fashion,&#8221; Stephanie Lingemann, head \u200bof air domain at German defence startup Helsing, told Reuters at the airshow.<\/div><div>Germany and France this month shelved plans \u200bfor a joint fighter jet but are now looking to salvage parts of the Future Combat Air System programme by developing a related \u200cdrone system \u2060and data network.<\/div><h2>NOT YET OPERATIONAL<\/h2><div>The war in Ukraine has shown how disrupting sensors and communications can be as critical as kinetic attacks.<\/div><div>Helsing says its electronic attack drone is designed to operate alongside strike drones in autonomous swarms.<\/div><div>Boeing Australia&#8217;s Managing Director Amy List insisted its MQ-28 Ghost Bat wingman was not a drone, but an unmanned jet designed &#8220;to enhance the \u200bcapabilities, be a force multiplier \u200bfor crewed platforms.&#8221;<\/div><div>The company \u2060is collaborating with German firm Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE)<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span> to build what it says is its tried and tested technology.<\/div><div>&#8220;It can go out ahead of crewed platforms, provide situational awareness, analyse data, it \u200bcan fuse that data and provide decision-making quality information back to a human,&#8221; List told \u200bReuters.<\/div><div>As it stands, \u2060wingman drones or aircraft have not yet arrived on the battlefield. Boeing says its model can be in service for the German Luftwaffe by 2029, while Airbus&#8217; model, the U760b Ravenstorm, won&#8217;t be available until the 2030s, the company says.<\/div><div>General Atomics&#8217; \u2060YFQ-42A is \u200bin testing and was selected in 2024 by the U.S. Air \u200bForce among other technologies to receive funding and other support for prototype development.<\/div><div>Lockheed Martin (LMT.N)<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span> and U.S. defence technology startup Anduril are expected to display similar \u200btechnologies at upcoming airshows, including Britain&#8217;s Farnborough airshow starting on July 20.<\/div><div><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Joanna Plucinska\" class=\"wp-image-707\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1266d9aabe8a27b50c113173fa1b6e67.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Joanna Plucinska<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Instagram<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><\/div><\/div><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2095\">US-Iran deal promises end to war but how it will work remains unclear<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2093\">Asia markets temper Iran deal optimism, BOJ hikes rates<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2091\">US-Iran deal may not bring quick relief for auto shops<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Centre stage at last week&#8217;s Berlin airshow was the &#8220;wingman&#8221; \u200cdrone, Europe&#8217;s latest-generation defence weapon designed to accompany fighter jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[148],"class_list":["post-2097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-disrupted"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As Europe rearms, &#039;wingman&#039; aircraft take centre stage - Reliable Moving Crews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2097\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Europe rearms, &#039;wingman&#039; 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