Northrop’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue completes first flight in US Air Force CCA race

Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue has taken to the air for the first time, becoming one of the latest autonomous aircraft to fly in support of the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) ambitions.

It joins a growing field of autonomous combat aircraft contenders, including the Anduril FQ-44, General Atomics’ FQ-42, and Boeing Australia’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat.

YFQ-48A Talon Blue completes first autonomous flight

Over the weekend, Northrop Grumman announced that its self-funded YFQ-48A Talon Blue Collaborative Combat Aircraft completed its first flight at Mojave, California.

The test flight included taxi, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers, and landing. Few other details were given by Northrop.

Following the flight, Craig Woolston, the vice president and general manager of research and advanced design at Northrop Grumman, said, “Our customers made it clear they need autonomous systems that can be fielded faster and more affordably without sacrificing mission effectiveness.”

He added, “We listened,” noting Talon Blue’s first flight is a step toward a new generation of autonomous capabilities.

The announcement came after Northrop Grumman lost the F/A-XX programme to Boeing, making its YFQ-48 programme even more important.

The YFQ-48A is powered by Talon IQ (formerly Beacon), Northrop Grumann’s Prism Mission Autonomous software. These software ‘brains’ are some of the most important elements of building advanced CCAs.

Currently, the Anduril FQ-44’s ‘brain’ is Shield AI’s Hivemind, while the General Atomics FQ-42 is powered by Collins Aerospace’s Sidekick.

Importantly, the Air Force awarded separate contracts for the aircraft themselves and the mission autonomy software. Anduril’s Lattice mission autonomy software was not selected for Increment 1. It is unclear if the Air Force would eventually select the Talon IQ.

What is Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue?

Northrop Grumman describes the Talon Blue as combining a modular design and advanced manufacturing to lower cost and support faster production.

The autonomous aircraft is part of Northrop’s larger Project Talon Portfolio, which includes the optionally manned Scaled Composites Model 437 and Talon IQ.

Talon Blue has been designed to reduce part count and overall weight, allowing Northrop to lower the cost and enable faster production. Affordability and scalable production are key Air Force requirements.

It is also designed with a high air intake, a wide wheelbase, and an integrated weapons bay to “support a wide variety of mission needs for U.S. and allied partners.”

How Talon Blue fits into the US Air Force’s CCA programme

Northrop, along with Boeing and Lockheed Martin, was not selected for the Air Force’s Increment 1 for its CCA programme in 2024. Instead, the smaller companies Anduril and General Atomics were selected.

The legacy companies have since been redesigning their concepts and are competing for the more demanding and higher-end Increment 2.

It’s understood the US Air Force has identified a potential vendor pool of nine aerospace companies for Increment 2, and it plans for a down-select in 2027.

The Air Force has specifically declined to identify which companies make up these nine vendors. Potential contenders include Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Atomics, Shield AI, Hermeus, and Kratos.

The flight gives Northrop fresh momentum as the race to shape the US Air Force’s future autonomous combat fleet gathers pace.