The U.S. Air Force is exploring a concept where RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft would directly control drones during missions, according to a report from The War Zone. This teaming approach aims to drastically expand the platform's collection capabilities by leveraging unmanned aircraft as forward sensors or decoys.
The integration would allow the Rivet Joint to operate drones as extensions of its own sensor suite, potentially increasing standoff range and survivability while reducing risk to the manned crew. Such a shift could fundamentally alter how the fleet conducts electronic surveillance in contested environments, enabling more dynamic and distributed collection operations.
No specific allied or adversary responses have been reported yet, but this capability would likely prompt rival nations to accelerate electronic warfare countermeasures. The move aligns with broader U.S. efforts to network manned and unmanned systems across the joint force.
Budget details and procurement timelines remain unspecified. The Air Force has not disclosed cost estimates or whether existing RC-135s will require hardware modifications to support drone control.
The concept is still in early exploration; technical hurdles and operational validation remain. The War Zone notes that while promising, this capability is not yet program of record and faces integration challenges with current command-and-control architectures.