Air Force awards CCA contracts to shape next-generation air superiority

The Department of the Air Force has awarded a slate of contracts for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, advancing both Increment 1 air vehicles and mission autonomy software in a bid to accelerate fielding of next-generation combat capability and separate software development from airframe production.

Program officials cast the awards as a deliberate break from traditional procurement, positioning autonomy as “software sold separately” to speed capability to operators and allow rapid updates as technology evolves. The effort builds on years of semi-autonomous flight development and is intended to pair uncrewed systems with crewed fighters to boost reach, awareness, and survivability in contested airspace.

“Collaborative Combat Aircraft change how we project power and generate mass in highly contested environments,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “Delivering this capability to our warfighters faster ensures our forces maintain the tactical edge required to deter and, if necessary, defeat any adversary.”

On the hardware side, the Air Force awarded engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts to General Atomics for the FQ-42 and to Anduril for the FQ-44 under CCA Increment 1. The awards, made four months ahead of schedule, follow a competitive source selection and signal the platforms have met mission requirements and are ready to enter full-scale manufacturing to sustain air superiority in a more complex threat environment.

“By moving fast from competitive selection into full-scale manufacturing, we position ourselves to field highly credible and combat-ready semi-autonomous systems to stay ahead of the pacing challenge,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “These contracts reaffirm our confidence in the strategic path forward for the program to procure over 150 combat capable CCA by the end of the decade.”

Equally central to the effort is mission autonomy software. The Air Force established a six-year, competitive production contract pool with six vendors—Anduril, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Collins Aerospace, and Shield AI—to drive continuous competition and rapid development. In addition, the service awarded initial production options to Anduril, RTX Collins Aerospace, and Shield AI to accelerate delivery of operational autonomy through the first of two six-month competitive sprints. After the first phase, the Air Force plans to assess progress and launch a second competitive period that will culminate in selecting a primary mission autonomy provider for CCA Increment 1 by summer 2027.

“Mission autonomy is the cornerstone of the CCA concept, and leveraging a competitive, multi-vendor environment ensures we capture the latest technology,” Meink said. “This approach guarantees our Airmen are equipped with state-of-the-art capabilities today but keeps the door open for the breakthroughs necessary to maintain air superiority.”

The autonomy awards also incorporate a new award-fee exposure model that ties what the Air Force pays to operator feedback and combat performance, with vendors earning full license fees only if software meets warfighter needs. The licensing construct allows the service to buy software from any of the six vendors at any point over the next six years, preserving flexibility to adopt the best-performing, most affordable solutions.

Underpinning the decoupled approach is the government-owned Autonomy Government Reference Architecture, an open systems framework that vendors must follow to ensure software can be integrated, updated quickly, and ported across different aircraft.

“Open systems architecture is critical in modern warfare,” Wilsbach said. “It allows us to capitalize on the most advanced autonomy solutions to ensure we incorporate the best technology in our weapon systems.”

Beyond the initial tranche of more than 150 aircraft targeted by the end of the decade, the Air Force said it intends to field approximately 1,000 combat-capable CCA, using continuous competition to lower costs while scaling fighter capacity.