US Air Force awards contracts for 1,000 semi-autonomous aircraft

The US Air Force has awarded production contracts to General Atomics and Anduril for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme. It plans to field around 1,000 semi-autonomous aircraft and has selected six companies for mission autonomy software.

The US Air Force has awarded production contracts to General Atomics and Anduril for its first-generation Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme and selected six companies to develop mission autonomy software as part of plans to field around 1,000 semi-autonomous aircraft capable of operating alongside crewed fighter jets.

The Air Force awarded engineering, manufacturing and production contracts to General Atomics and Anduril for the FQ-42A and FQ-44A, respectively, under CCA 'Increment 1 air vehicles', a statement from the US Air Force read. Officials said the contracts were awarded four months ahead of schedule after both platforms met mission requirements during a competitive selection process.

A Leap Forward in Air Combat

"Collaborative Combat Aircraft change how we project power and generate mass in highly contested environments," said US Air Force Chief of Staff General Ken Wilsbach. "Delivering this capability to our warfighters faster ensures our forces maintain the tactical edge required to deter and, if necessary, defeat any adversary."

US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said the contracts would help the service field more than 150 combat-capable CCAs by the end of the decade.

Industry Leaders on Production

General Atomics said the award marked the beginning of production deliveries of the FQ-42A, a purpose-built uncrewed fighter aircraft developed under the programme.

"This is an exciting day for our company and the nation," said company General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) President David R Alexander. "Moving to production on FQ-42A is the result of an extraordinary partnership and many years of investments between General Atomics and the U.S. Air Force. We've been preparing for this order, and manufacturing is already well underway," the GA-ASI President added.

According to the company, the aircraft moved from contract award to first flight in just 15 months, with the prototype YFQ-42A completing its maiden flight in August 2025. The modular aircraft is designed to support different mission requirements and human-machine teaming operations.

Anduril also welcomed the Air Force's decision, describing it as a shift away from traditional defence procurement. "There is no time to waste on business as usual. With the CCA program, Secretary Kendall and the Air Force have embraced a fast-moving, forward-looking approach to field autonomous systems at speed and scale," said Brian Schimpf, CEO and Co-Founder of Anduril.

Advancing Mission Autonomy

The Air Force also awarded mission autonomy software contracts to six companies: Anduril, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Collins Aerospace and Shield AI. Three firms, Anduril, RTX Collins Aerospace and Shield AI, received additional production options to accelerate software delivery.

"Mission autonomy is the cornerstone of the CCA concept, and leveraging a competitive, multi-vendor environment ensures we capture the latest technology," Meink added.

The US Air Force, as per the statement, 'intends' to field around 1,000 combat-capable CCAs, with software and hardware development carried out through a continuous competition model aimed at reducing costs and accelerating innovation. (ANI)

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