Application of Commercial Technologies to Generate Quasi-5th Gen Unmanned ADAIR

USAF will spend $6B on contractor Adversary Air (ADAIR) in the next 10 years, and likely an equivalent amount on self-generated ADAIR for F-22 and F-35, which currently have no viable Red counterpart. By 2030, the total number USAF ADAIR sorties fall between 65,000 (minimum) and 150,000 (desired), which will overwhelm the enterprise, irrespective of cost. Estimates are that 60% of these sorties are for Beyond Visual Range (BVR) training, which is easily automated, given a suitable low-cost, high-performance vehicle. Blue Force Technologies (BFT) proposes to develop a small, purpose-built unmanned ADAIR (U-ADAIR) vehicle using our custom airframe capability with commercial components, resulting in a vehicle that can emulate a modern 5th gen threat yet costs 10-30% of what USAF spends per hour on contractor 3rd gen ADAIR. This novel approach has the additional benefit of relieving another USAF crisis – the fighter pilot shortage – which is not alleviated simply by contracting out ADAIR support. In the proposed Phase 1 activity we will engage Air Combat Command (ACC) and other customers to validate requirements. In subsequent phases, a series of purpose-built aircraft are produced.