The U.S. Air Force has given its two Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototypes official Mission Design Series designations.
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Meaning of the Designation
The CCA being developed by General Atomics has been designated YFQ-42A while the CCA being developed by Anduril Industries has been designated YFQ-44A, the Air Force said Monday. The prefix “Y” means the aircraft is still in the prototype stage; the prefix “F” means the aircraft’s basic mission is that of a fighter; and the prefix “Q” means the aircraft is unmanned. The numbers “42” and “44” indicate the design number while the letter “A” at the end indicates that the unit is the model’s first version.
CCA Program
Also called loyal wingmen, CCAs are large uncrewed aircraft that are envisioned to operate alongside crewed fighter jets or fly alone or in groups. CCAs will be powered by jet engines and driven by artificial intelligence that would enable collaboration with human pilots.
The Air Force had received designs from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril but in 2024 decided to move forward with the latter two. Moving forward, the prototypes will be subjected to testing and evaluation, with subsequent insights informing future steps for the CCA program.
New Chapter of Aerial Warfare
Commenting on the MDS designations, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said the prototypes “are going to be ready to fly this summer.”
“For the first time in our history, we have a fighter designation in the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A. It may be just symbolic, but we are telling the world we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare. It means collaborative combat aircraft, it means human-machine teaming,” Allvin added.
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