News
September 25, 2026
SAN DIEGO, California. A General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) FQ-42 Vengeance uncrewed aircraft was delivered to Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, for continued testing and evaluation under the U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, the company announced in a statement.
The aircraft will support Air Force experimentation involving collaborative and autonomous operations, according to the statement. GA-ASI says its FQ-42, XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station, and MQ-20 Avenger aircraft have previously flown with artificial intelligence (AI) pilots and under collaborative control by human pilots operating F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
The FQ-42 has also flown in formation with F-35 and F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft in preparation for collaborative-control testing, the company says. GA-ASI describes the aircraft as a low-observable uncrewed fighter with an internal weapons bay. The Air Force selected GA-ASI in 2024 to build production-representative CCA flight-test aircraft, and the FQ-42 made its first flight in August 2025 before receiving an initial production contract in June 2026.
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