In the United States, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) has announced that the collaborative combat aircraft YFQ-42A is undergoing teaming flight tests with US Air Force aircraft.
The notable achievement is GA-ASI’s continuation of rapid development of new unmanned jet platforms for achieving air dominance, designed for swift production, in large quantities, and importantly, at an affordable price.
The Innovative YFQ-42A
The YFQ-42A is the cutting-edge unmanned jet from GA-ASI, focusing on semi-autonomous air-to-air operation. Using state-of-the-art model-based digital engineering, GA-ASI has been able to accelerate its timeline while simultaneously enhancing air dominance capabilities.
The YFQ-42A’s artificial intelligence (AI) autonomy core was trained in over five years of flight testing using GA-ASI’s unique MQ-20 Avenger jet.
In short, the YFQ-42A delivers affordable combat capability, mass, at a lower cost and relevant timescale for the threat.
The integrated capabilities of an unmanned stealth jet, focusing on air-to-air operation, combined with an AI-based autonomy core, can provide decisive advantage in future combat for the USAF.
The US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Program
The GA-ASI program has focused not only on the innovation of the YFQ-42 but also on creating a high-speed production environment that allows the USAF to achieve the goal of producing over 1,000 Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) rapidly as envisioned by the program.
Ground tests of the YFQ-42A began last May in anticipation of the first flight tests conducted this summer.
The CCA program aims at developing a family of unmanned drones to cooperate with manned aircraft, reducing risks for pilots, with supportive functions.
As part of the CCA initiative, the USAF, following the presentations of projects and proposals, proceeded to select two solutions, Anduril’s YFQ-44 “Fury” and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.’s YFQ-42A.
These aircraft are designed to enhance manned fighters, like the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II and the F-47, the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), in air dominance missions through a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft (MUM-T).
Source and photo credit @General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI)
