YFQ-42 and YFQ-44 Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototypes enter ground testing

Anduril's YFQ-44A prototype in the hangar. Both CCA competitors are scheduled to conduct first flights in boreal summer 2025. (Anduril)

Both the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) YFQ-42A and Anduril YFQ-44A, the first instantiations of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) for the US Air Force (USAF), have entered ground testing ahead of anticipated first flights in boreal summer, according to 1 May statements by the service and companies. The USAF also announced Beale Air Force Base (AFB), California, as the operational CCA's first operating base.

“This ground test phase includes rigorous evaluations of the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A production representative test vehicles… focusing on propulsion systems, avionics, autonomy integration, and ground control interfaces,” the USAF said. “These assessments will validate performance, inform future design decisions, and prepare the systems for flight-testing later this year.”

Anduril and GA-ASI were selected to build the first CCA prototypes in April 2024. The USAF announced that both designs had passed Critical Design Review (CDR) in November 2024, with prototype construction beginning soon after.

“We remain on schedule to test and fly YFQ-42 in the coming months,” GA-ASI's president David Alexander, said in a statement. GA-ASI declined to provide test details to Janes.

Likewise, Anduril's senior vice-president of air dominance and strike Jason Levin confirmed in a statement that “we are on schedule to fly YFQ-44A this summer”.

It is publicly unknown how many CCA prototypes will be built and flown prior to a scheduled fiscal year (FY) 2026 downselect. Aerospace programmes often build a single ‘iron bird' for aerodynamic loads testing on the ground, as well as systems testing.

Initial operational capability (IOC) with the selected type is scheduled in calendar year 2030.