The U.S. Air Force has officially named its two Collaborative Combat Aircraft developed under the first phase of the CCA program, with the General Atomics FQ-42 becoming the Vengeance and Anduril's FQ-44 retaining the Fury name already used by its manufacturer.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced the names on September 14 during the Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The FQ-42 had previously been known by General Atomics as Dark Merlin.
Follow Air Data News: WhatsApp | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
The two aircraft form Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which is developing semi-autonomous combat aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighters. The concept is intended to add sensors, weapons and additional combat capacity without requiring another pilot in each aircraft.
Rather than developing a single CCA design, the Air Force selected competing aircraft from General Atomics and Anduril and is also developing mission autonomy software that can be integrated with the platforms.
500 CCA planned by 2032
Meink said the Air Force intends to have at least 500 CCA in service by 2032. The service has previously outlined a broader requirement for around 1,000 Collaborative Combat Aircraft across multiple increments.
Both Increment 1 designs have already progressed to flight testing. The General Atomics YFQ-42A began flying in 2025, while the Anduril YFQ-44A followed as the Air Force accelerated development of the two competing platforms.
Recent news
September 15, 2026
September 15, 2026
The aircraft were deployed to Creech Air Force Base in Nevada this year for operational evaluations that included sortie generation, logistics, refueling and integration with crewed aircraft.
The FQ-44 also completed a live-fire test over the Mojave Desert in July, when the aircraft launched an AIM-120 air-to-air missile against a digital target. The Air Force said the weapon employment sequence was executed autonomously within parameters established by a human operator, who retained authority over the decision to release the weapon.
Production contracts awarded
The Air Force awarded General Atomics and Anduril engineering, manufacturing development and production contracts for the FQ-42 and FQ-44 in June. Production of the first aircraft is already underway.
The service is pursuing additional CCA designs through subsequent increments rather than committing its entire requirement to the two initial aircraft. Increment 2 is intended to incorporate lessons from the first phase while opening the program to additional competitors.
According to the Air Force, CCA are intended to perform missions currently assigned to crewed combat aircraft while increasing the number of platforms available in contested environments. The service has emphasized that weapon employment will remain subject to human authorization despite the increasing autonomy of the aircraft.
