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Paris Airshow highlights importance of drones in modern

warfare

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Anduril and General Atomics lead US drone development

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European firms advance 'loyal wingman' drone initiatives

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US eyes drones for possible China conflict in Pacific

By Joe Brock

PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - Defence heavyweights and

emerging military tech firms used the Paris Airshow to showcase

cutting-edge drones known as "wingmen" - uncrewed aircraft

designed to fly alongside next-generation fighter jets and

reshape the future of air combat.

The Paris show, the biggest aerospace and defence gathering

in the world, featured a record number of drones, reflecting

their rising importance after proving highly effective in the

Ukraine war and as the U.S. prepares for a potential conflict

with China in the Pacific.

In April last year, the U.S. Air Force selected Anduril and

General Atomics to develop the first fleet of drone wingmen,

which are designed to fly alongside manned fighter jets and are

officially known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).

California-based Anduril, which has already supplied small

drones to Ukraine and was making its debut at the air show,

displayed a model of its 17-foot Fury drone - planned for

production in 2027 as part of the U.S. Air Force's CCA

programme.

"We're moving extremely fast," Jason Levin, Anduril's senior

vice president of engineering, told Reuters.

"The aircraft is very capable. We can't go into specifics

here, but it performs the mission like a fighter."

Levin said Anduril had raised $2.5 billion to build a

5-million-square-foot production facility in Ohio, with

construction set to begin next year.

In March, Anduril signed a 30-million-pound ($38 million)

deal with Britain to supply its compact Altius drone to Ukraine.

The drone can be launched from the ground or air and is capable

of conducting strikes, serving as a decoy or for cyber warfare.

Larger drones like Fury are part of the U.S. CCA programme,

which aims to field around 1,000 autonomous drones capable of

conducting surveillance, electronic warfare and strike

operations alongside piloted fighter jets - such as Lockheed

Martin's ( LMT ) F-35 and the next-generation F-47, which Boeing ( BA )

was tapped to build following its selection by the Air

Force in March.

General Atomics showed off a model of its YFQ-42A drone at

the show, which is its equivalent of the Fury, with both

designed for potential use in the Pacific if China invaded

democratically-ruled Taiwan.

Last week, Boeing ( BA ) demonstrated the potential of drones

operating in coordination with human pilots during a

groundbreaking test with the Royal Australian Air Force, the

U.S. aerospace giant announced at the air show.

In the trial, two of Boeing's ( BA ) Ghost Bat drones flew

alongside an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft, with a human

operator remotely controlling the uncrewed systems to carry out

a mission against an airborne target, the company said.

"The Ghost Bat has the potential to turn a single fighter

jet into a fighting team, with advanced sensors that are like

hundreds of eyes in the sky," Australian Minister for Defence

Industry Pat Conroy said in a statement.

European defence firms are also advancing wingman drone

initiatives, including Sweden's Saab and a trilateral

partnership between Dassault Aviation, Airbus,

and Indra Sistemas under the Future Combat Air System.

The programme aims to integrate autonomous drones with manned

fighter jets.

Turkey's Baykar displayed two of its drone models at the

show for the first time - the high-altitude, heavy lift Akinci

and the TB3, which has foldable wings and can take off or land

on short-runway aircraft carriers.

On Monday, Baykar and Italian defence and aerospace group

Leonardo formally launched a joint venture for

unmanned systems.

Germany's Rheinmetall announced at the show that

it would partner with Anduril to build versions of Fury and

Barracuda - a cruise missile-style drone - for European markets.