The multi-day Agile Combat Employment event was led by the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Experimental Operations Unit. The unit is responsible for developing the tactics, techniques and procedures that will shape how CCA are employed across the force.
“Air superiority in today’s increasingly contested environments requires the rapid fielding of affordable mass,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “CCA are essential to this effort. By integrating uncrewed systems to fly alongside our Airmen, we extend reach and increase lethality.”
The exercise moved CCA operations beyond conventional test settings and placed the aircraft directly in the hands of operational personnel. The Air Force is using that approach to develop employment concepts while the technology itself continues to mature.
During the event, the Experimental Operations Unit generated multiple sorties to demonstrate reliability and extended range. The uncrewed aircraft also integrated with manned platforms in local airspace and supported simulated operations across distributed battlefields.
“This exercise was about getting the systems into the hands of the warfighter,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Jensen, Experimental Operations Unit commander. “We are focused on operating CCA outside of a traditional test environment so we can continue to learn, inform, and rapidly iterate.”
The scenarios were also designed to provide data for future CCA requirements. Operators worked to integrate advanced autonomous capabilities as the Air Force develops its approach to human-machine teaming.
Operating CCA from different locations was another focus of the event. The Air Force said distributed operations challenge crews to develop the agility required for contested environments.
Members of the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center observed the exercise under a new rapid operational testing procedure. The approach allows test teams to collect operational data while warfighters conduct the missions themselves.
“Our test teams can continuously use these warfighter-run exercises to gather and analyze data that aids in informed CCA fielding decisions well ahead of the normal process to deliver combat capability when needed by our Air Force and the Nation,” said Brigadier General Jesse Friedel, AFOTEC commander.
The CCA program has progressed from concept to flight testing in less than two years. The Air Force is also using the effort as a pathfinder for changes to its acquisition process.
Competition between developers and early involvement by operators are central to that approach. Jensen said embedding warfighters in development from the outset is helping accelerate delivery of combat-ready uncrewed airpower.
“The exercise was not only a test of technology but a testament to the warfighters who are actively shaping CCA development,” Wilsbach said. “The lessons learned at Creech will directly influence how the Air Force integrates these cutting-edge concepts into future combat ops.”
The Creech activity therefore focused as much on operational concepts as aircraft performance. Lessons from the exercise will inform how the Air Force develops, tests and ultimately integrates CCA into future combat operations.
