General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory ...
General Atomics
A U.S. Air Force F-22 pilot controlled a YFQ-44A Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft this month while both aircraft were in flight, according to an Oct. 16 release, another milestone in the service’s ambitious CCA efforts.
The Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit have selected seven companies to move forward on a program meant to produce a low-cost, semi-autonomous drone to succeed the MQ-9A Reaper, multiple sources confirmed to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
For the past four years, the idea of autonomous drone warfare like Collaborative Combat Aircraft has been discussed as a future concept, rather than near-term reality. But now that promised vision appears imminent, with the Air Force promising at least 1,000 such drones by 2032.
The Air Force’s emerging Collaborative Combat Aircraft program would suffer delays if Congress fails to pass a budget before the end of this calendar year, a top service official said Sept. 28.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and Anduril Industries both say they’re ready to produce Collaborative Combat Aircraft at a rapid clip and even expand that production, as they wait for a fiscal 2027 budget to fund that work.
The Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft will take part in their first large-force engagement exercise in December, the head of the drones’ Experimental Operations Unit said Sept. 15.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), the company that introduced the world to unmanned warfare, has systematically transformed its aircraft lineup to address the defining requirements of modern high-technology warfare: range, persistence, payload, survivability, and scale against advanced adversaries. The...
The Air Force is accelerating its plans to field an MQ-9A replacement in the wake of heavy Reaper losses in operations against Iran, top officials said Sept. 3, and they’re targeting a price point of just $10 million per aircraft.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems predicts the new drone it plans to pitch for the military’s “Massed Modular Aircraft” program will exceed many of the military’s requirements for a successor to the MQ-9 Reaper.
A frayed wire likely triggered stray voltage to shut off a fuel valve, causing the catastrophic loss of an MQ-9 Reaper drone last August, according to a new Air Force investigation report.
The Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit hosted a change of command ceremony recently, another sign of how the CCA concept is maturing and becoming entrenched in the Air Force’s structure, to the point where exercises have generated multiple sorties in a single day to simulate ...