General Atomics’ collaborative combat aircraft notches first flight

General Atomics’ collaborative combat aircraft began flight testing with the Air Force today, the service announced. 

The drone, dubbed YFQ-42A, took off from Gray Butte Airport, just east of Palmdale, California. The airport is owned by General Atomics and has been used to develop and test the company’s Predator and Reaper drones. The YFQ-42A is based on the company’s XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station drone, which flew for the first time last year. 

“This milestone showcases what’s possible when innovative acquisition meets motivated industry. In record time, CCA went from concept to flight—proving we can deliver combat capability at speed when we clear barriers and align around the warfighter,” Air Force secretary Troy Meink said in the statement. 

In May, the service announced the program had begun ground testing ahead of its first flight this summer. The drones will go through testing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and operational assessments by an “experimental operational unit” at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada before they hit the fleet. Eventually, CCAs will be based at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., at a “CCA Air Readiness Unit” that will deploy the drones worldwide. 

Anduril, the other company on contract to build prototypes for the Air Force, said in a statement that flight testing for its CCA, the YFQ-44 Fury, will “begin soon.”

After both prototypes fly, officials will make a production decision in fiscal 2026 whether to produce one or both of the companies’ offerings. Service officials hinted last year that they’ll carry both companies’ offerings into production, but said the drones’ performance in flight tests will determine how many they buy from each company.

The first CCAs are designed for air-to-air missions—essentially hauling extra rounds for fighter jets. The Air Force has yet to confirm what future increments will look like, but officials have hinted that the next batch will be on the “low-end” for cost and capability, as the service looks toward building affordable mass. 

The service only asked for $111 million in its 2026 budget proposal for CCAs, but leaned on the one-time reconciliation bill to inject $678 million into the program—bringing the total funds close to $800 million in 2026.