The Department of the Air Force awarded several contracts for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, including Increment 1 air vehicles as well as mission autonomy software, in a push to rapidly field advanced combat capabilities.
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The Air Force awarded engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts to General Atomics, FQ-42, and Anduril, FQ-44, for CCA Increment 1.
Awarded 4 months ahead of schedule, these contracts signify that the FQ-42 and FQ-44 meet rigorous mission requirements and are ready for full-scale manufacturing. The decision follows a competitive source selection process, identifying the systems as the most capable and cost-effective solutions to maintain air superiority in an increasingly complex and contested global threat environment.
Building upon decades of responsible, semi-autonomous flight development, CCA represent the next critical evolution of airpower. CCA are designed to seamlessly integrate with crewed fighters to extend reach, awareness and survivability in contested environments. This human-machine teaming will serve as a powerful deterrent, signaling to adversaries the futility of challenging U.S. AirPower.
These distinct efforts validate acquisition transformation principles to secure a critical operational advantage: decoupling hardware from software. By treating mission autonomy as “software sold separately,” the Air Force ensures that the warfighter receives state-of-the-art physical platforms alongside agile, easily updatable software, effectively breaking traditional procurement molds.