Northrop Grumman has made the first flight of its YFQ-48A Talon Blue autonomous vehicle developed for the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) requirements of the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The defense group announced the start of test flights from Mojave, California, on October 3, as the next stage of of a self-funded program that is part of its wider Project Talon initiative.
According to Northrop Grumman, has designed Talon Blue for flexible operations in mind, with the aircraft’s “high air intake, wide wheelbase and integrated weapons bay [intended to] support a wide variety of mission needs.” It said the program is based on design and manufacturing innovations to reduce part counts and weight, as well as reducing costs and accelerating production rates.
Northrop Grumman did not release any specific details about the scope of the first flight with the Talon Blue prototype, which it described as "a U.S. Air Force variant of an autonomous wingman." The company said that over seven decades it has logged more than 500,000 autonomous flight hours with multiple drones in its portfolio.
Along with Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman was one of five companies contracted to design and build a CCA concept. However, in April 2024, the Air Force decided to only continue funding for Anduril and General Atomics to design, manufacture and test production conforming prototypes.
Still in CCA Contention
At that point, the USAF said that “the companies not selected to build these production representative CCA vehicles, and execute the flight program, will continue to be part of the broader industry vendor pool consisting of more than 20 companies to compete for future efforts, including future production contracts.”
On this basis, Northrop Grumman and its subsidiary Scaled Composites continued to develop another variant, which it said would be a lighter, lower-cost platform designed to be faster to build. Work began under codename Project Lotus, later formally renamed as Project Talon. Nine currently undisclosed vendors are in the running for potential contracts under Increment II of the USAF CCA program.
Although Northrop Grumman has not formally confirmed it is pitching the Talon Blue for Increment II, the aircraft has become the third to receive a USAF designation: formally named YFQ-48A in December 2025. The first two—General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ FQ-42 Fury and Anduril’s FQ-44 Vengeance—were awarded engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts under Increment I.
At the time, the USAF stated that “the MDS [mission design series] designation highlights the ongoing partnership between the Air Force and Northrop Grumman and acknowledges the continued progress of the YFQ-48A as a contender in the CCA program”. It added it was “encouraged by Northrop Grumman’s continued investment in developing advanced semi-autonomous capabilities.”
More In Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
