USAF program for AI-autonomous unmanned aircraft that will fly in teams with F-35s and F-22s. Designed to perform air-to-air combat, suppression, and strike missions autonomously.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft program represents the USAF's largest autonomous weapons investment, with plans to procure hundreds or thousands of units to outnumber potential adversary forces. The YFQ-42A from General Atomics and YFQ-44A from Anduril were selected in April 2024 over Boeing and Lockheed proposals, signaling a shift toward non-traditional defense contractors in autonomous systems. The aircraft are designed to be attritable, meaning they are expected to be lost in high-threat environments and must be cheap enough to accept those losses.
YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A prototypes selected 2024; first flight expected 2025
General Atomics is privately held, but Anduril Industries is privately held as well and not publicly traded. NVIDIA (NVDA) provides computing hardware for the autonomous flight systems, offering indirect exposure.