Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force announced Dec. 22 that it has designated the Northrop Grumman Project Talon uncrewed aircraft prototype the YFQ-48A.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force has expanded the pool of competitors vying for the second increment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
U.S. startup Astro Mechanica plans to take its hybrid-electric supersonic engine into high-altitude and high-speed ground testing in 2026.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Matthew Jouppi
The decade-long demand outlook for military aircraft has jumped 30% over the past year, reaching $250 billion.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble, Brian Everstine, Tony Osborne, Robert Wall
A new U.S. strategy recalibrates global security posture from foreign intervention to homeland protection.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
The U.S. is 250 years old in 2026. Its leading aerospace and defense companies face growing competition, domestically and internationally, from younger players.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Guy Norris
Competition to power the emerging collaborative combat aircraft market is intense, with U.S. and international plans to spend billions in the next five years.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force have conducted the first air-to-air live-fire test of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, with the CCA firing an AIM-120 Amraam.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites on Dec. 3 unveiled Project Talon, the company’s latest design of an uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
Japan has completed a series of proof-of-concept flights involving multiple scaled collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and MUM-T from a helicopter.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force for the past year has faced an internal debate that ultimately upended the service’s top leadership.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
An F-22 fighter and an uncrewed jet collaborated in the skies over a remote area of Nevada in a company-funded demonstration, GA-ASI says.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
GE Aerospace is developing a small turbofan engine for midsized Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Robert Wall, Brian Everstine, Vivienne Machi, Steve Trimble
Watch as editors discuss the impact of policy changes at the Pentagon before they break down the latest developments with the B-21 and multiple CCA projects.
Defense

By Robert Wall, Brian Everstine, Vivienne Machi, Steve Trimble
Listen to our editors discuss the impact of policy changes at the Pentagon before they break down the latest developments with the B-21 and multiple CCA projects.
Check 6

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The service has outlined a goal to add hundreds of fighters, but it stops short of addressing funding and capacity limits.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Shield AI has chosen GE Aerospace’s F110 engine to power its X-Bat vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft system (UAS).
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
General Atomics is proposing a specialized air-to-ground member of the company’s Gambit family of modular uncrewed aircraft systems.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Republic of Korea Air Force plans to field aircraft piloted by artificial intelligence by the early 2030s to fly alongside KAI F-50 and KF-21 fighters.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The flight comes about two months after its competitor for CCA Increment 1, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., notched the first flight of its YFQ-42A.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Northrop Grumman has secretly built a large new uncrewed aircraft system (UAS), dubbed Project Lotus.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are possible sales targets in Asia for the newly unveiled X-BAT VTOL collaborative combat aircraft, a Sheild AI official says.
Aircraft & Propulsion