The U.S. Air Force’s ability to achieve and maintain air superiority is increasingly challenged with the exponential rise of advanced technologies and adversarial capabilities. To keep ahead, the U.S. Air Force is pursuing air combat aviation efforts in crewed-uncrewed teaming and integration to expand the fighter fleet and protect human pilots at a lower cost than crewed fighters. Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) are semi-autonomous, jet-powered uncrewed systems that will operate alongside crewed fighter jets, capable of flying independently or in small groups.
Designated YFQ-42A by the U.S. Air Force, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.’s (GA-ASI) collaborative combat aircraft is a critical piece in securing air dominance and homeland defense. YFQ-42A will fly alongside human-piloted fighters, enhancing their sensing, networking, and combat capabilities through advanced autonomy and crewed-uncrewed teaming to detect, defeat and defend against adversary threats.
CCA will seamlessly integrate with current and next-generation crewed aircraft, expanding mission capabilities for joint and combined forces. Taking direction from human pilots, YFQ-42A will enable warfighters to defeat enemy threats in contested environments and perform a broad a range of missions such as air combat, electronic warfare, targeting, intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR).
YFQ-42A collaborative combat aircraft provides the fighter capacity—combat mass—at an affordable cost and on a threat-relevant timeline.
GA-ASI innovates ahead of need, pioneering disruptive technologies for scalable and affordable advanced unmanned aerial system solutions. Throughout its 30-year history, GA-ASI has leveraged its technological achievements to rapidly advance unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that support warfighters. The U.S. Air Force’s selection of GA-ASI to build a production CCA is a testament to the company’s proven record of innovation, unmatched UAS experience, and unwavering commitment to supporting force combat operations.
YFQ-42A represents of the company’s unrivaled history of capable, reliable uncrewed platforms that meet the needs of tomorrow’s warfighters, today – leading the way to a new era for airpower.
As one of only two uncrewed systems with a fighter designation, the GA-ASI YFQ-42A CCA represents the first in a new generation of uncrewed combat aircraft. The first production YFQ-42A is expected to fly in 2025.
With air superiority pivotal to America's military dominance, collaborative combat aircraft offer expanded fighter capacity at lower costs and adaptable timelines. Enabled by GA-ASI’s expertise in software, control systems, human-machine interfaces and other technologies essential in powering the aircraft, YFQ-42A is force multiplier for maintaining supremacy in the air domain.
The U.S. Air Force announced the designation of two Mission Design Series within its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program today: the YFQ-42A (General Atomics) and the YFQ-44A (Anduril). Representing the first in a new generation of uncrewed fighter aircraft, both will be crucial in securing air superiority for the Joint Force in future conflicts.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) welcomes the U.S. Air Force’s designation for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft: the new uncrewed jet fighter will be called the YFQ-42A. The announcement on Monday followed an earlier USAF decision in 2024 that GA-ASI was selected to develop and build the YFQ-42A.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) achieved another major milestone in the development of Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) by flying U.S. government-provided autonomy software aboard a company-owned MQ-20 Avenger®. The demonstration was part of the Air Force Test Center’s all-domain test series called Orange Flag 25-1, which took place February 19-21 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) collaborated with BAE Systems to demonstrate unique electronic warfare (EW) capabilities remotely controlled via a secure, jam-resistant Link 16 network on an MQ-20 Avenger® unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) advanced its ability to operationalize the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) ecosystem by combining advanced autonomy and government-provided human-machine interface (HMI) hardware.
Are you ready to see the future of uncrewed air power? General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) announces major displays during the Air Force Association’s (AFA) Air, Space & Cyber Conference.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has been selected to build production representative flight test articles of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC).
