GA-ASI Chief Calls Northrop Exec’s CCA Comments ‘Sour Grapes’

RAF FAIRFORD, UK–A contractor fired back on July 19 at a recent Northrop Grumman executive’s call for a higher level of survivability in the first increment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), highlighting an ongoing, heated debate over the future of aerial autonomy.

“There’s been a lot of talk about, ‘Oh, we’ve got to have these things be more survivable and blah, blah, blah,” David Alexander, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), said in an interview at the Royal International Air Tattoo here.

“How many times have we heard of that? It’s a bunch of, you know, misinformation,” Alexander added. “Because what’s winning in wargames is affordable mass, not silver bullets.”

This reporter noted that Northrop Grumman CEO Tom Jones called for the U.S. Air Force on July 16 to raise the requirement for survivability in CCAs, meaning their ability to detect, avoid and defeat potential threats.

“It’s sour grapes,” Alexander replied.

A Northrop spokesman did not immediately respond to Alexander’s statements.

In April, the Air Force selected GA-ASI and Anduril to develop the first increment of CCAs, rejecting competing offers from Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop.

“The Air Force knows what they’re doing,” Alexander said. “If the only way to get the job done was through some flying wing CCA, they’d be building flying wing CCAs. They wouldn’t be building what we’re building.”

Alexander interpreted Jones’ comments as critical of the Air Force’s decision to select aircraft with more traditional fuselage and wings and a lower level of survivability for the first increment of the CCA family.

“The other three are going to run off and say, ‘It’s got to be survivable!’” Alexander said. “Well, that’s an opinion.”

The Air Force plans to order more than 1,000 CCAs to bolster the air superiority mission by extending the reach of a “kill chain” of sensor- and weapons-toting aircraft. The plan is to develop the family batches of dozens or about 100, with increment orders placed every two years.

The Air Force continued to define the requirements for Increment 2 of the CCA family that has not yet been defined, and Alexander says he does not yet have a clear understanding of their plans.

“Who knows where that’s going? That’s all over the map,” Alexander said.