Air Force picks General Atomics, Anduril to build first CCA drone wingmen
The U.S. Air Force awarded production contracts in June 2026 to General Atomics and Anduril for Increment 1 semi-autonomous drones. These AI-piloted aircraft will fly alongside crewed fighters. The service is also procuring mission autonomy software from multiple vendors.
What changed
The Air Force transitioned the General Atomics FQ-42A and Anduril FQ-44A from prototypes to full-scale manufacturing.
Live updates
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Air Force Awards First Production Contracts for CCA Drone Wingmen
confidence 90%The U.S. Air Force awarded production contracts in June 2026 to General Atomics and Anduril for Increment 1 semi-autonomous drones. These AI-piloted aircraft will fly alongside crewed fighters. The service is also procuring mission autonomy software from multiple vendors.
What's confirmed:
- General Atomics and Anduril were awarded production contracts in June 2026 for Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1.
- The General Atomics aircraft is designated as the FQ-42A and the Anduril aircraft is the FQ-44A.
- The Air Force is procuring mission autonomy software and air vehicles from a multi-vendor environment including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Collins Aerospace, and Shield AI.
- The program decouples aircraft hardware from autonomy software procurement.
Still unconfirmed:
- The Air Force plans to deploy around 1,000 combat-capable CCAs.
- The Air Force intends to procure more than 150 combat-capable units by 2030.
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USAF Awards CCA Production Contracts to General Atomics and Anduril
confidence 95%The U.S. Air Force selected General Atomics and Anduril Industries to produce the first operational drone wingmen for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. These aircraft will function as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance initiative. The service intends to procure more than 150 combat-capable units by 2030.
What's confirmed:
- General Atomics and Anduril Industries received production contracts for Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
- The USAF aims to procure over 150 combat-capable CCA units by the end of the decade.
- The CCA program falls under the Next Generation Air Dominance initiative.
- General Atomics will build the FQ-42A Dark Merlin and Anduril will build the FQ-44 Fury.
- Production contracts were awarded four months ahead of schedule.
- The USAF awarded mission autonomy production contracts to six companies, including Lockheed Martin, Anduril, and General Atomics.
- The Air Force is using a hardware-software decoupled procurement model.
Still unconfirmed:
- The Air Force will use both the FQ-42 and FQ-44 drones rather than choosing one over the other.
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Air Force Awards First CCA Production Contracts to General Atomics and Anduril
confidence 95%The U.S. Air Force awarded production contracts for Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program on June 17. General Atomics and Anduril Industries will build the first operational drones. The service aims to field more than 150 combat-capable units by the end of the decade.
What's confirmed:
- The Air Force awarded production contracts for Collaborative Combat Aircraft to Anduril and General Atomics on June 17.
- These contracts cover Increment 1 of the CCA program.
Still unconfirmed:
- The drones are designated as the FQ-42A and FQ-44A.
- The program targets more than 150 combat-capable drones by the end of the decade.
- Unit costs are capped near one-third the cost of an F-35A.
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Air Force Moves General Atomics and Anduril CCA Drones to Production
confidence 90%The U.S. Air Force is ordering the first Collaborative Combat Aircraft into serial production. General Atomics and Anduril Industries will build the initial drone airframes. The service intends to field 1,000 semi-autonomous drones by the late 2030s.
What's confirmed:
- General Atomics and Anduril Industries will produce the first Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones.
- The Air Force aims to deploy at least 1,000 semi-autonomous drones by the late 2030s.
Still unconfirmed:
- The General Atomics drone is designated as the YFQ-42A or FQ-42A.
- The Anduril drone is designated as the YFQ-44A or FQ-44A.
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Air Force Awards Production Contracts for CCA Drone Wingmen
confidence 100%The U.S. Air Force has selected General Atomics and Anduril Industries to produce airframes for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. Six additional companies will handle software development. The service aims to deploy at least 1,000 semi-autonomous drones by the late 2030s.
What's confirmed:
- General Atomics and Anduril Industries will build airframes for the drone wingmen.
- The Air Force intends to field at least 1,000 aircraft by the late 2030s.
- Six companies were selected for software development of the collaborative combat aircraft.
Still unconfirmed:
- Anduril will provide mission autonomy for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
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Air Force Awards First CCA Production Contracts to General Atomics and Anduril
confidence 95%The U.S. Air Force has moved its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program from prototype to full-scale manufacturing. General Atomics and Anduril Industries will build the first fleet of semi-autonomous drone wingmen. The service intends to field at least 1,000 of these aircraft by the late 2030s.
What's confirmed:
- General Atomics will produce the FQ-42 CCA.
- Anduril will produce the FQ-44 CCA.
- The Air Force aims to field at least 1,000 drones by the late 2030s.
- Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins Aerospace are competing to provide the autonomy software.
- The CCA program is designed to provide semi-autonomous capabilities that are cheaper than human-piloted fighters.
Still unconfirmed:
- Six other companies will compete to develop autonomy software.
- The CCA will work with the future F-47 fighter.