General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has moved into the ground testing phase of development on the YFQ-42A production-representative test vehicle for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, in preparation for its planned first flight later this summer.
“The YFQ-42A is an exciting next step for our company,” explains GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “It reflects many years of partnership with the U.S. Air Force of advancing unmanned combat aviation for the United States and its allies around the world, and we’re excited to begin ground testing and move to first flight.”
A pioneer in unmanned aerospace technologies, GA-ASI has developed more than two dozen different aircraft types and delivered more than 1,200 units to customers, building more than 100 aircraft per year at its 5 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Poway, Calif.
YFQ-42A represents the third uncrewed jet type developed by GA-ASI. The first was the internally funded MQ-20 Avenger, which made it’s first flight in 2009 and has completed more than 40,000 flight hours. The MQ-20 Avenger is currently serving as a jet-powered CCA surrogate for autonomy development and critical advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning integration.
The second was the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) jet, which made it’s first flight in 2024. The the XQ-67A was the result of years of partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to design an autonomous collaborative platform with a common chassis or “genus” that could pivot quickly to multiple missions and different aircraft “species.” The XQ-67A’s platform-sharing approach leverages best practices from the automotive industry to create a system design with lower cost and faster build in mind.
GA-ASI aircraft have amassed nearly 9 million total flight hours around the world, with more than 50 GA-ASI aircraft flying every minute of every day.
Ground testing of the YFQ-42A CCA began on May 7th 2025.
