New TechnologiesCCAs: Pentagon’s 6th-Gen Stealth Fighter Will Control Drone Swarms Posted on February 11, 2026 by Administrator Nearly 15 years ago, the former U.S. Air Force Chief Scientist Dr. Gregory Zacharias told me the service envisioned an operational scenario wherein drones were operated from the cockpit of an in-flight F-22 and F-35. This “vision,” outlined by top service scientists, autonomy specialists and weapons developers such as Zacharias .. is now completely “here.” The day is upon us, as the technological breakthroughs anticipated by Zacharias arrived about the time he predicted they would, and all Air Force weapons developers have been acutely aware that the service’s emerging Next-Generation-Air-Dominance 6th-Gen stealth fighter is a “family” of systems.
