Collaborative Combat Aircraft

Agency

US Air Force

Acronym

CCA

Budget

~$8.9B estimated for Increment 1 development + procurement (Defence Insight estimate, unofficial)

Phase

Increment 1 — production contracts awarded Jun 2026 for first 150 aircraft; Increment 2 (~2,350 more) airframe downselect from 9 to <=6 vendors underway (Jul 2026); Increment 2 propulsion contracts already awarded: small-class (1,400-1,600 lb thrust) to Beehive Industries, Honeywell, and a GE Aerospace/Kratos team (Feb 2026), medium-class (5,000-6,000 lb thrust) to GE Aerospace and Rolls-Royce (Jun 2026)

Domain

Autonomous combat aircraft / manned-unmanned teaming

• CompanyAnduril IndustriesAutonomy-first defense products company building hardware and the Lattice software platform.
• CompanyGeneral Atomics Aeronautical SystemsUS unmanned-aircraft prime (subsidiary of General Atomics), builder of the MQ-9 Reaper family; co-selected with Anduril to build the USAF's first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the YFQ-42A Dark Merlin.
• CompanyRTXAmerican aerospace and defense conglomerate (formerly Raytheon Technologies).
• CompanyKratos Defense & Security SolutionsDrones, missile systems, directed energy, and command & control technology for defense customers.

• ContractCCA Increment 1 Production Contract (YFQ-44A Fury)USAF production contract awarded to Anduril for the first 150 Collaborative Combat Aircraft (Increment 1), covering the YFQ-44A Fury; first aircraft rolled off Anduril's Ohio line in July 2026.

What is Collaborative Combat Aircraft?

Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) is the USAF's program to field autonomous, semi-expendable drone fighters that team with manned aircraft. Increment 1 production contracts were awarded to Anduril (YFQ-44A Fury) and General Atomics (YFQ-42A Dark Merlin) in June 2026 for the first 150 aircraft, with a live-fire AIM-120 AMRAAM test validating autonomous weapon-employment sequencing in July 2026.

Which agency runs Collaborative Combat Aircraft?

Collaborative Combat Aircraft is run by US Air Force and is also known as CCA.

What is the budget for Collaborative Combat Aircraft?

Collaborative Combat Aircraft has a budget of ~$8.9B estimated for Increment 1 development + procurement (Defence Insight estimate, unofficial), currently in its Increment 1 — production contracts awarded Jun 2026 for first 150 aircraft; Increment 2 (~2,350 more) airframe downselect from 9 to <=6 vendors underway (Jul 2026); Increment 2 propulsion contracts already awarded: small-class (1,400-1,600 lb thrust) to Beehive Industries, Honeywell, and a GE Aerospace/Kratos team (Feb 2026), medium-class (5,000-6,000 lb thrust) to GE Aerospace and Rolls-Royce (Jun 2026) phase.

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