Earlier this March, the U.S. Air Force announced reaching a historic and important milestone for the national armed forces. The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program has produced two series of unmanned aerial vehicles to support manned aircraft during missions — the so-called loyal wingmen YFQ-42A by General Atomics and YFQ-44A by Anduril.
These advanced machines have essentially opened the first generation of unmanned fighter jets. According to the U.S. Air Force, these UAVs will be "crucial in securing air superiority for the Joint Force in future conflicts."
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The statement emphasizes that the fighter drones' designations originate from a standardized identification and classification framework, where Y means the current prototype status, F defines the basic mission (Fighter), and Q is the type of vehicle, i.e. unmanned.
"Now we have two prototypes of Collaborative Combat Aircraft," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin. "They were only on paper less than a couple of years ago, and they are going to be ready to fly this summer."
"It may be just symbolic, but we are telling the world we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare. It means collaborative combat aircraft, it means human-machine teaming. We are developing those capabilities thinking, 'mission first'," Allvin added.
The YFQ-42 belongs to the Gambit family of drones from General Atomics, similar in configuration to the XA-67A. It has a single engine and an internal weapons bay. The manufacturer has previously emphasized that the drone will be affordable enough for the military to acquire a significant number.
Meanwhile, Anduril's YFQ-44, also known under the provisional codename Fury, was originally developed by Blue Force Technologies for military exercises to play the role of aggressor and later adapted to meet CCA requirements.
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