- Start
- Jun 17, 202690% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
Air Force Orders General Atomics and Anduril Combat Drones Into Production
- On 17 June 2026 the Air Force awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Anduril Industries engineering, manufacturing development and production contracts for the first increment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft[1]
- The contracts cover the first three lots and at least 150 CCAs combined by the end of the decade, awarded four months ahead of schedule; the value is classified[1]
- The Air Force also awarded production options to Anduril, Shield AI and Collins Aerospace for the autonomy software[1]
- The YFQ-42A first flew on 27 August 2025 and the YFQ-44A on 31 October 2025; a YFQ-42A was lost in a crash on 6 April 2026[2][3]
- The production aircraft were later named FQ-42 Vengeance and FQ-44 Fury[2][3]
Notable features
- Semi-autonomous jet drones meant to fly strikes, reconnaissance and electronic warfare alongside the F-35A, F-22A and F-47 with minimal direction from pilots[1]
- Combat radius of at least 700 nautical miles for the first increment[1]
- Target cost of roughly one-third of an F-35, under $30 million per aircraft; the Air Force eventually wants about 1,000 CCAs[1]
References 380% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 80%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%airandspaceforces.com/air-force-general-atomics-anduril-cca-production-contractsairandspaceforces.com· Posted Sep 27, 2026· Starts Jun 17, 2026 ✓· 33% of score
Air & Space Forces Magazine (17 June 2026): 'The department announced June 17 it has awarded both companies engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts'.
- [2]75%General Atomics FQ-42 Vengeanceen.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 27, 2026· 33% of score
Records the YFQ-42A's first flight testing on 27 August 2025, a crash on 6 April 2026 with testing resumed on 21 May, the 17 June 2026 production selection with a combined 150 aircraft by 2030, and the production name 'Vengeance' announced on 14 September 2026.[1]
- [3]75%Anduril FQ-44 Furyen.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 27, 2026· 33% of score
Gives the YFQ-44A's first flight on 31 October 2025, the joint production selection on 17 June 2026, and the official name 'Fury' given in September 2026.[1]
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