The US Air Force has tested the experimental XQ-67A with new autonomous mission systems, more than two years after the uncrewed aircraft made its maiden flight.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Air Combat Command's Experimental Operations Unit flew the aircraft over the Nevada Test and Training Range under the Demon APE project. The laboratory announced the test on October 27 but did not disclose when the flight took place.
The XQ-67A carried new sensors and mission computers as well as upgraded electrical and cooling systems needed to support the additional equipment. The test also included beyond-line-of-sight communications, which allow an uncrewed aircraft to exchange information when it is too far away for a direct radio link.
AFRL also connected the aircraft to a live, virtual and constructive environment, allowing the real XQ-67A to interact with simulated aircraft and threats. The goal is to test how autonomous aircraft can collect, process and share information in more complex combat scenarios without requiring large numbers of real aircraft for every trial.
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Built by General Atomics, the XQ-67A first flew on February 28, 2024, from the company's Gray Butte facility in California. Air Data News reported its maiden flight at the time.
Flying laboratory
The aircraft was originally developed as an Off-Board Sensing Station, or OBSS. Rather than replace a specific Air Force aircraft, the concept places sensors aboard a relatively inexpensive uncrewed jet that can operate farther from crewed aircraft, including in areas where sending a pilot would involve greater risk.
The program also tested a different way to develop military aircraft. AFRL and General Atomics created a common basic airframe that can be adapted for different missions, instead of designing a completely new aircraft for each role. A sensor aircraft such as the XQ-67A could therefore share much of its basic design with another version intended to carry weapons.
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That work helped lead to the FQ-42A, General Atomics' Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force. The company describes the XQ-67A as a flying prototype for the FQ-42A concept, but the two aircraft have different roles.
XQ-67A and FQ-42A
The XQ-67A remains an experimental aircraft used to develop and test technologies. The FQ-42A is an uncrewed fighter intended for operational service and has an internal weapons bay and features designed to make it harder to detect.
The FQ-42A first flew in August 2025 and received an initial production contract from the US Air Force in June 2026. It is one of the aircraft developed under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which seeks to field large numbers of lower-cost uncrewed combat jets that can operate alongside aircraft such as the F-35 and future crewed fighters.
Instead of directly replacing those aircraft, CCAs are intended to give them additional sensors, weapons and combat capacity. They can be assigned tasks by human operators while autonomous systems handle much of the actual flying and mission execution.
The continued use of the XQ-67A allows AFRL to test some of the technology required for that concept without modifying production aircraft. An earlier test in 2025 already demonstrated government-developed autonomy software and a tactical datalink aboard the aircraft.
AFRL has not said whether the systems tested under Demon APE will be incorporated into the FQ-42A. The work is intended more broadly to develop technologies for autonomous collaborative aircraft, including future systems beyond the first generation of CCAs.
