Two drone prototypes have become the official combat aircraft of the United States, announced the U.S. Air Force.
The YFQ-42A model from General Atomics and the YFQ-44A from Anduril are already in preparation to fly on missions later this year.
In this case, the designations mean Y – Prototype, F – Fighter, Q – Unmanned Aircraft, project numbers 42 and 44, and A – series. When they enter production, the Y will be removed from the designations.
The tests, conducted over two years, were carried out under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The drones were mainly used as test and evaluation vehicles to collect information for the production aircraft.
“We now have two prototypes of Collaborative Combat Aircraft. They were on paper less than two years ago, and they will be ready to fly this summer,” said General David W. Allvin, head of the U.S. Air Force, according to New Atlas.
“It may be just symbolic, but we’re telling the world that we’re leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare. That means collaborative combat aircraft, it means man-machine teams. We’re developing these capabilities with the thought: ‘Mission first.'”
Photo and video: Anduril. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
