Washington, DC, January 3 - The U.S. Air Force is advancing its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program by positioning Northrop Grumman's latest autonomous drone as a key contender in next-generation air warfare. In late 2025, the service officially designated Northrop Grumman's Project Talon as the YFQ-48A, marking it the third prototype unmanned fighter in the CCA initiative and signaling strong interest in this semi-autonomous loyal wingman drone. Designed to team with manned fighters like the F-35, the YFQ-48A represents a shift toward affordable, scalable autonomous drones that enhance air superiority through manned-unmanned teaming.
Northrop Grumman developed Project Talon after refining its earlier CCA proposal, focusing on reduced costs, lighter weight, and faster production. The drone features a fully composite structure, fewer parts, and a modular design, enabling versatility across missions such as sensing, electronic warfare, and strikes. By leveraging advanced manufacturing and its Beacon autonomy testbed, Northrop aims to deliver a force multiplier that operates semi-autonomously alongside crewed aircraft in contested environments. The Air Force praised the company's independent investment, noting it aligns with goals for rapid innovation in collaborative combat aircraft.
The CCA program envisions swarms of autonomous drones augmenting fifth- and sixth-generation fighters, providing attritable assets that protect pilots while expanding combat mass. With Increment 1 prototypes from Anduril (YFQ-44A) and General Atomics (YFQ-42A) already in flight testing since 2025, Northrop's YFQ-48A emerges as a strong competitor for future increments. Brig. Gen. Jason Voorheis emphasized the ongoing partnership, highlighting Talon's progress in delivering cutting-edge semi-autonomous capabilities at speed and scale.
As the Air Force prepares for potential Increment 2 contracts in 2026, the inclusion of Northrop Grumman's autonomous drone underscores a competitive strategy to field hundreds of collaborative combat aircraft by the end of the decade. This development reinforces U.S. efforts to maintain air dominance through integrated manned-unmanned operations, blending human oversight with advanced AI-driven autonomy for superior battlefield performance.
