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Mike hosts an exclusive episode to discuss the Air Force’s
Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program with the 2 companies selected to build the first platforms: Anduril and General Atomics.

We discuss what the companies have in common and how they both view that as one of their superpowers. We also explore the origins of the CCA program, the origins of the winning vehicle design, how the program
structure is a model for innovation and more.

Though they won the hardware contracts, both companies have unique software and autonomy insights, so we also discussed software as the enabler and the integration challenges of bringing these ‘loyal wingmen’ into the force.

While there was a ton to agree on, they also shared unique and varying perspectives—something that you can only get when you have them in a discussion together. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

For those interested in #military #nationaldefense #warfare #nationalsecurity #defense #nationaldefense #tech #technology #defensetech #army #navy #airforce #sofware #startup #innovation #drones #ai #autonomy #anduril #ga-asi #airplanes #airpower #airsuperority

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• Mike Benitez (LinkedIn)

• Anduril

• General Atomics

• Diem Salmon - Vice President, Air Dominance and Strike at Anduril

• Mike Atwood - Vice President, Advanced Programs at General Atomics

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Show Notes

00:48 CCA intro

02:00 company intros

06:01 why the push for CCAs?

07:26 exploring the CCA space

09:09 origins of the winning designs

10:16 2 for 1 - win win

11:55 software

12:43 the software part is the hardest

14:33 the shift in trust in kill chains

15:01 Skyborg

15:40 trust and blending

16:25 delegation via trust or necessity

17:53 the need to get it into operators hands

18:47 DOTMLPF-P

19:11 teaming

19:44 starting simple

20:29 starting with complexity

22:09 iteration is the pathway

22:55 CCA program structure

26:56 capability efficiency vs resiliency

28:35 groundbreaking challenges

29:04 solving system-level optimization

31:13 culture change

31:36 F-16 Auto GCAS

32:50 MAGIC CARPET

34:14 composites for scale?

38:31 the future

41:27 closing thoughts

42:43 outro