Air Force production contracts Anduril FQ-44 General Atomics FQ-42 Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones
The next US combat aircraft headed for production carries no pilot. The Air Force picked Anduril and General Atomics to build its first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside crewed jets. First new entrant to win a US fighter production line
The next US combat aircraft headed for production will not carry a pilot. On June 17 the US Air Force awarded production contracts to Anduril and General Atomics for their FQ-44 and FQ-42 aircraft, the first operational examples of what the service calls Collaborative Combat Aircraft. These are semi-autonomous, uncrewed jets designed to fly alongside crewed fighters, extending their reach with additional sensors, weapons and decoys at a lower cost per airframe than a manned fighter. The Air Force has said it wants more than 150 combat-capable CCAs by the end of the decade, and the program is meant to scale air power without a matching rise in the number of pilots. The selection stands out for who won as much as for what was bought. Anduril described the award as the first time in more than 50 years that a new entrant, rather than an established prime contractor such as Lockheed Martin or Boeing, has won a US fighter production program. The company points to a compressed timeline as evidence of a faster acquisition model: a prototype award in 2024, a first flight in October 2025, and a production contract now. For the broader defense industry, the decision signals that the Air Force is willing to back newer players and uncrewed platforms in a part of the market long dominated by a handful of legacy manufacturers. Contract values and exact order quantities were not disclosed. Source: US Air Force, Anduril, DefenseScoop