FIA 2026: KAI showcases $11.21 billion vision for crewed and uncrewed hybrid fighter formation
The KAI Medium Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft, flanked by three Adaptable Aerial Platforms. (Photo: author)
As Korea Aerospace Industries sets out its two-tiered, crewed-and-uncrewed hybrid future air formation, Defence Insight analyses how much it could cost to fulfil the ambition.
At the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) showcased its future fighter formation. The formation will consist of one crewed KF-21 Boramae fighter, four collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and eight smaller air-launched drones in a two-tiered crewed-uncrewed teaming (CUC-T) squadron, as confirmed to Defence Insight at the show by Jung In Lee, assistant manager in business development for the Middle East and Africa at KAI.
KAI’s offering directly meets the Republic of Korea Air Force’s (ROKAF) requirements for a two-tiered CUC-T squadron, which would, in theory, be an economical and effective way to vastly increase the force projection of a single crewed aircraft.
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