On August 29, 2024, Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites conducted their first test flight of the Model 437 Vanguard — an aircraft intended to compete for the change to serve as one of the Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). These drone platforms are intended to use advanced artificial intelligence to take their cues from human pilots in nearby advanced fighters, dramatically increasing the combat capacity of each crewed jet in the fight. But while several of these CCA prototypes have already flown, the Vanguard stands out for one very important reason… It has a cockpit. Let’s talk about it.