The United States Air Force (USAF) confirmed that the prototype YFQ-42A drone, developed by General Atomics under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, successfully carried out its maiden flight at a test center in California. This marks a new step forward in the initiative aimed at fielding unmanned aircraft designed to operate alongside fifth- and sixth-generation fighters.
The YFQ-42A is one of two prototypes under development within CCA Increment 1. The other, designated YFQ-44A, is being developed by Anduril Industries, with its flight test campaign expected to begin soon. Both models had already started ground testing in May 2025. As previously reported, those tests included evaluations of propulsion systems, avionics, autonomy, and control interfaces—a key step before moving on to flight trials.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink highlighted the speed of the process: “This milestone shows what is possible when innovative acquisition meets a motivated industry. In record time, CCA went from concept to flight, demonstrating that we can deliver combat capability at speed when we remove barriers and align around the warfighter.”
Similarly, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin stated: “This is More Air Force in action. Not only are we moving fast, we are learning fast. CCA will help us rethink the battlefield, extend reach, flexibility, and lethality in combat operations, and optimize warfighter performance through human-machine teaming.”
From the industry side, David R. Alexander, President of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), remarked: “It was our collaboration that made it possible to build and fly the YFQ-42A in just over a year. This is a major accomplishment, and I salute the Air Force for its vision, as well as our development team for delivering another historic first for our company.”
The CCA program is part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative and aims to establish a modular, software-defined, open-architecture model of airpower. According to official reports, the Air Force plans to make a competitive production decision for Increment 1 in Fiscal Year 2026, considering proposals from both General Atomics and Anduril.
In April 2024, it was confirmed that the YFQ-42A design is derived from the experimental XQ-67A drone, developed under the Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program. This background has been described as a key contribution to the current development of CCA.
Authorities have indicated that the Air Force intends to acquire between 100 and 150 drones in the program’s first stage, though the ultimate goal is set at more than 1,000 units through iterative development cycles. These semi-autonomous platforms will be deployed to expand operational capacity, with the first CCA Aircraft Readiness Unit expected to be established at Beale Air Force Base, California.
In a complementary statement, Anduril noted: “Flight testing is one of those milestones that inevitably generates excitement. Congratulations to General Atomics and the U.S. Air Force for starting flight tests of the YFQ-42A, an important step toward fielding CCA Increment 1 by the end of the decade,” said Jason Levin, Anduril’s Senior Vice President of Engineering.
With this maiden flight, the U.S. Air Force moves forward in validating autonomy technologies, mission system integration, and manned-unmanned teaming, with the goal of achieving a new operational capability by the end of this decade.
Images courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.
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