US Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft gain Mission Design Series designations
March 7, 2025
The MDS designation provides a standardized framework for identifying and classifying US military aircraft. The MDS includes a Status Prefix, in this case a Y indicating a prototype (This ‘Y’ prefix will be dropped for production aircraft), a Basic Mission designator, in this case F-for-Fighter. There is then a Vehicle Type designator – with Q indicating an Unmanned Aircraft. There is also a numerical design number and a series suffix – in the case of the General Atomics aircraft 42A, indicating the first version of the ‘type 42’.
The allocation of these designations follow the designation of GA-ASI’s Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) as the XQ-67A, which was ordered by the Air Force Research Lab to support the development of CCA concepts. The fact that the OBSS used a an ‘X-for-X-plane’ designation indicated that it was designed solely for testing and experimentation, and not as the production-representative prototype of an eventual operational aircraft. Allocating a YF-series designation conveys a powerful message as to what the Increment 1 CCAs are intended to be.
The General Atomics YFQ-42A and the Anduril YFQ-44A represent the first in a new generation of uncrewed fighter aircraft, which promise to be crucial in securing air superiority for the Joint Force in future conflicts. These so-called Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) are designed to leverage autonomous capabilities and crewed-uncrewed teaming to defeat enemy threats in contested environments. The CCAs form part of the wider NGAD initiative which also includes the planned manned sixth-generation stealthy combat air platform. The manned NGAD aircraft has always been envisioned as serving as a forward ‘drone controller’ (though autonomy should remove much of the need for direct control), and as operating closely together with CCAs, which are intended to enhance flexibility, affordability, and mission effectiveness.
The CCAs will provide fighter capacity at a lower cost and on a threat-relevant timeline, delivering affordable mass and enhancing air superiority by acting as a flexible, affordable force multiplier.
The Increment One CCAs are not regarded as being ‘exquisite’ adjuncts in the mould of ‘classical Loyal Wingmen’, but were supposed to be lower cost and attritable, although estimated costs are between one quarter and one third of the cost of an F-35A. At US $20-35 million, the Increment 1 CCAs may be less ‘attritable’ than was once intended, while Increment 2 CCAs are expected to be 20-30% more expensive.
Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin greeted the news of the redesignations by saying: “Now we have two prototypes of Collaborative Combat Aircraft. They were only on paper less than a couple of years ago, and they are going to be ready to fly this summer. For the first time in our history, we have a fighter designation in the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A. It may be just symbolic, but we are telling the world we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare. It means collaborative combat aircraft, it means human-machine teaming. We are developing those capabilities thinking: Mission first.”
Allvin said that the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A prototypes will fly this summer.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), welcomed the new designation. GA-ASI President David R. Alexander said: “We’re proud to get a new official aircraft designation. YFQ-42A continues a long and distinguished history for GA-ASI that dates back to the 1990s and the debut of the RQ-1 Predator, which later changed to MQ-1 Predator. That uncrewed aircraft gave way to the MQ-9A Reaper, the MQ-20 Avenger, our new MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian, and many others. These aircraft represent an unrivalled history of capable, dependable uncrewed platforms that meet the needs of America’s warfighters and point the way to a significant new era for airpower.”
For Anduril senior vice president of engineering Jason Levin said that: “Together, in close partnership with the Air Force, we are pioneering a new generation of semi-autonomous fighter aircraft that is fundamentally transforming air dominance by delivering highly capable, mass-producible, more affordable, and more autonomous aircraft by the end of the decade. It reinforces what we already knew: our CCA is a high performance aircraft designed specifically for the air superiority mission, acting as a force multiplier for crewed aircraft within the real constraints of cost and time.”
The Air Force will continue to work closely with its industry partners to mature the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A prototypes through rigorous testing and evaluation. The insights gained from these efforts will be crucial in shaping the future of the CCA program and solidifying the Air Force’s position at the forefront of airpower innovation.
