Northrop Grumman YFQ-48A Completes Autonomous Flight on Internal Funds While Air Force Awards Production to Anduril and General Atomics
Northrop Grumman flew its internally funded YFQ-48A fully autonomously but holds no CCA production contract. The Air Force has concentrated hardware awards with Anduril and General Atomics while keeping Northrop in a software competition. Manufacturing speed and cost reductions are positioned as the differentiator ahead of the 2027 selection.
Next milestones are the software down-select in 2027 and any follow-on hardware integration decisions. Absence of a production contract for the YFQ-48A leaves Northrop dependent on software performance data to enter the CCA production pipeline.
Northrop Grumman: Selected for CCA software Increment 1 by summer 2027 with at least one autonomy module passing performance thresholds ahead of rival submissions.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2026/10/06/northrop-grummans-yfq-48a-cca-completes-first-fully-autonomous-flight/)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1234567/air-force-names-cca-vendors/)
- [3]Supporting Source(https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-XXX/collaborative-combat-aircraft)