General Atomics YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft makes first flight

The first GA-ASI YFQ-42A lifts off from a southern California airfield. A competing CCA, the Anduril YFQ-44A, is also likely to enter flight testing soon. (GA-ASI)

The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) YFQ-42A – the first of two Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) for the US Air Force (USAF) – has conducted its first flight, the company and service announced separately on 27 August.

The flight “contribut[ed] valuable data to continued evaluations of platform airworthiness, flight autonomy, and mission system integration”, according to the USAF. The service's announcement described the flight as taking place at “a California test location” – likely referring to GA-ASI's airfields at either El Mirage or Gray Butte in southern California.

Additional details about the unmanned aerial vehicle's (UAV's) flight were not immediately available. Following initial airworthiness testing, new aircraft types are typically ferried to nearby Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California, the USAF's main test centre.

The first YFQ-42A began ground testing in May, GA-ASI said in its statement. The aircraft is related to the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station built for the Air Force Research Laboratory, which first flew in February 2024. Both types descend from GA-ASI's Gambit concept, a common fuselage structure to which different wings, air intakes, and other modular elements can be attached to suit a particular mission.

GA-ASI was selected to compete for CCA Increment 1 in April 2024 alongside competitor Anduril. Anduril released a statement congratulating GA-ASI, noting that its CCA competitor – the YFQ-44A – is likely to fly “soon”. The USAF is set to conduct a downselect between the two types in fiscal year (FY) 2026, with initial operational capability scheduled for 2030.