In February 2024, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) successfully conducted the maiden flight of the XQ-67A Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) prototype aircraft.
This validated the “genus/species” concept pioneered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as part of the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Platform Sharing (LCAAPS) program.
Since February, the XQ-67A prototype has successfully completed two additional test flights, laying the groundwork for a successful production and flight test program. The program focused on building several aircraft variants from a common core chassis.
The XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station, developed by GA-ASI for AFRL, has now been used as a template to build a production representative design as part of a new agreement with the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Advanced Aircraft Division.
CCA for AFLCMC
The agreement with AFLCMC details that GA-ASI has been selected to build production representative flight test articles of the CCA for the AFLCMC Advanced Aircraft Division.
The option contract award by the Advanced Aircraft Division exercises the critical design, build, and flight test on the existing CCA contract with GA-ASI following an initial six-month phase that culminated in a successful CCA preliminary design review (PDR) earlier this year.
To complement the CCA contract, GA-ASI will continue to conduct a series of autonomy and mission system tests on the MQ-20 Avenger® UAS and XQ-67A to accelerate the readiness of operational autonomy. These live flight tests will continue to demonstrate the readiness of the full mission capability to support the emerging U.S. Air Force Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP).
Mike Atwood, Vice President of Advanced Programs for GA-ASI, commented; “The CCA program redefines the future of aviation and will shape the USAF acquisition model to deliver affordable combat mass to the warfighter at the speed of relevancy.”
GA-ASI President David R. Alexander added; “Throughout our 30-year history, GA-ASI has been at the forefront of rapidly advancing unmanned aircraft systems that support our warfighters.
“The USAF is moving forward with GA-ASI due to our focused commitment to unmanned air-to-air combat operations and unmatched UAS experience, ensuring the production of the CCA aircraft at scale to deliver affordable combat mass for the warfighter.”
