Pentagon to ask Congress for funding to develop new secret combat drones

The Air Force will seek funding to develop a pair of classified combat drone programs next year that are designed to operate alongside fighter planes and bombers, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told POLITICO.

"They're both unmanned air combat vehicles, unmanned platforms that are designed to work in conjunction with fighter aircraft like [the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter] or F-22 or the F-35. On the other hand, they work in conjunction with bombers like the B-21."

Report informs that he said the existence of the programs would be disclosed formally in the budget request, which will go to Congress early next year, but the details will be secret.

"These will be acknowledged classified programs," Kendall explained, "but I am going to try to get them started in '23."