The Airbus Wingman is a

loyal wingman Loyal may refer to: * Loyalty Music * ''Loyal'' (album), by Dave Dobbyn, 1988 ** "Loyal" (Dave Dobbyn song) * ''The Loyal'', an album by Tiger Lou, 2005 * "Loyal" (Chris Brown song), 2013 * "Loyal" (PartyNextDoor song), 2019 * "Loyal", a song ...

aircraft in development by European aerospace manufacturer

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

. The aircraft would be an unmanned

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

which would accompany a

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Syste ...

or other combat aircraft as a

force multiplier In military science, force multiplication or a force multiplier is a factor or a combination of factors that gives personnel or weapons (or other hardware) the ability to accomplish greater feats than without it. The expected size increase requ ...

Development

A 1 to 1 scale "

show car A show car, sometimes called a dream car, is a custom-made automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four ...

" version of the Wingman was unveiled on at the 2024

ILA Berlin Air Show The ILA Berlin Air Show ( German: (ILA)) combines a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with a public airshow. It is held every even year at the new Berlin ExpoCenter Airport next to the Berlin Brandenburg Airport ...

. The Wingman is said to feature capabilities including

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology ** Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Ste ...

and modern sensors, and is designed to fulfill roles including

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...

radar jamming Radar jamming and deception is a form of electronic countermeasures (ECMs) that intentionally sends out radio frequency signals to interfere with the operation of radar by saturating its receiver with noise or false information. Concepts that blan ...

air-to-air combat Air combat manoeuvring (ACM) is the Military tactics, tactic of moving, turning, and situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Commonly associated with dogfighting, air c ...

and air-to-surface combat. It will be piloted by

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. On , Airbus announced a partnership with European AI defense company

Helsing Helsing or Hellsing may refer to: * Helsing (also spelled Hellsing) a Swedish surname referring to the Swedish province (''landskap'') Hälsingland. Someone from Hälsingland is called a "Hälsinge", with the old (from the 17th to the 18th century) ...

to develop the Wingman's AI system. The Wingman would be controlled by a commanding crewed fighter, the initial aircraft proposed for this role is the

, though Airbus has left open the possibility that other fighters or aircraft could be adapted to fit the role. According to Airbus, the

F-35 Lightning The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warfa ...

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

and

Saab Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen ( ; English: ''Griffin'') is a light fighter, light single-engine supersonic multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta ...

fighters as well as the A400M Atlas transport and

A330 MRTT The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refueling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 15 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 82 aircraft, of which 64 had ...

tanker could be adapted to command Wingman aircraft. Airbus has stated that human pilots in the command aircraft would always be the "final decision making authority" in combat and would "always have control of the mission".

Potential operators

As of June 2024, Airbus is working with the

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

to use the Wingman to meet their requirement of an aircraft which can augment their Air Force before the introduction of the

Future Combat Air System The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), (; ; ) is a European combat system of systems under development by Dassault Aviation, Airbus and Indra Sistemas. The FCAS will consist of a Next-Generation Weapon System (NGWS) as well as other air assets ...

in the 2040s. Airbus is also reportedly in negotiations with the

Spanish Air and Space Force The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the Aerial warfare, aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with th ...

for possible purchases. The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and

Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

are both also current users of the Eurofighter; a spokesperson from the United Kingdom declined to confirm or deny whether the country's air force was interested in the Wingman.

Specifications

References

{{Stealth aircraft Unmanned stealth aircraft Airbus aircraft

Development

Potential operators

Specifications

See also

References