US Air Force CORONA Weighs Counting CCA Drones as Fighters After Fleet Fell 47 Jets Short
U.S. Air Force leaders approved Force Design 2026 and service-wide minimum manpower thresholds during the Fall CORONA conference, while agreeing to reassess how uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft should count in fighter-force planning. The debate follows a May 2026 notification that the combat-coded fighter fleet stood at 1,098 aircraft, 47 below the statutory minimum of 1,145 that applied through October 1, 2026. The now-expired provision counted crewed aircraft with F- or A-series designations, excluding uncrewed General Atomics FQ-42A and Anduril FQ-44A aircraft from that calculation. Any extension of the statutory floor or change in counting rules would require future policy or legislative action; the Air Force has not issued a new certified count.