New contracts signify that the FQ-42 and FQ-44 meet rigorous mission requirements.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded production contract for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts have been awarded to General Atomics, FQ-42, and Anduril, FQ-44 for CCA Increment 1.
Building upon decades of responsible, semi-autonomous flight development, CCA represent the next critical evolution of airpower. CCA are designed to seamlessly integrate with crewed fighters to extend reach, awareness and survivability in contested environments. This human-machine teaming will serve as a powerful deterrent, signaling to adversaries the futility of challenging U.S. airpower.
Tactical edge can defeat any adversary
“Collaborative Combat Aircraft change how we project power and generate mass in highly contested environments,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “Delivering this capability to our warfighters faster ensures our forces maintain the tactical edge required to deter and, if necessary, defeat any adversary.”
These contracts have been awarded four months ahead of schedule, these contracts signify that the FQ-42 and FQ-44 meet rigorous mission requirements and are ready for full-scale manufacturing. The decision follows a competitive source selection process, identifying the systems as the most capable and cost-effective solutions to maintain air superiority in an increasingly complex and contested global threat environment.
150 combat capable CCA
“By moving fast from competitive selection into full-scale manufacturing, we position ourselves to field highly credible and combat-ready semi-autonomous systems to stay ahead of the pacing challenge,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink.
“These contracts reaffirm our confidence in the strategic path forward for the program to procure over 150 combat capable CCA by the end of the decade.”
It’s also revealed that the equally critical to the CCA ecosystem is the mission autonomy software. The Air Force awarded mission autonomy production contracts to a pool of six vendors, establishing a competitive marketplace for the program.
“Mission autonomy is the cornerstone of the CCA concept, and leveraging a competitive, multi-vendor environment ensures we capture the latest technology,” Meink said.
“This approach guarantees our Airmen are equipped with state-of-the-art capabilities today but keeps the door open for the breakthroughs necessary to maintain air superiority.”
The software contract leverages a first-of-its-kind award fee exposure strategy, which enables operator feedback and combat performance to determine what the Air Force pays for mission autonomy. The Air Force will only pay the entire licensing fee if a vendor provides a combat capability aligned with warfighter needs and feedback. The licensing approach also allows the Air Force to award software licenses to any of the six vendors within the pool at any point over the next six years. This approach ensures the Air Force can procure the best-performing and most affordable solutions as technology evolves, according to a press release.
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Prabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.