The Air Force said the contracts validate acquisition transformation principles by separating hardware from software. It described the mission autonomy approach as “software sold separately,” intended to provide advanced physical platforms alongside software that can be updated more easily.
Collaborative Combat Aircraft represent the next step in the Air Force’s development of semi-autonomous flight capabilities. The aircraft are designed to integrate with crewed fighters to extend reach, awareness and survivability in contested environments.
The Air Force said this human-machine teaming will support deterrence. It said the capability is intended to signal to adversaries the difficulty of challenging U.S. airpower.
“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.”
For the air vehicle component, the Air Force awarded engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts for CCA Increment 1. General Atomics received the contract for the FQ-42 and Anduril received the contract for the FQ-44.
The contracts were awarded four months ahead of schedule. The Air Force said the awards show that the FQ-42 and FQ-44 meet rigorous mission requirements and are ready for full-scale manufacturing.
The decision followed a competitive source selection process. The Air Force said the systems were identified as capable and cost-effective solutions for maintaining air superiority in a more complex and contested global 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.”
The Air Force also awarded mission autonomy production contracts to a pool of six vendors. The selected companies are Anduril, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Collins Aerospace and Shield AI.
The baseline six-year contract vehicle establishes a framework for continuous competition and rapid software development. The Air Force said the approach creates a competitive marketplace for the CCA programme.
The Air Force also competitively awarded production options to Anduril, RTX Collins Aerospace and Shield AI. These awards are intended to accelerate delivery of mission autonomy software.
The targeted awards were based on the vendors’ ability to meet aggressive schedule and affordability requirements. They will fund the first of two six-month competitive phases designed to speed operational software to the warfighter.
After the initial six-month period, the Air Force will evaluate vendor progress. It will then execute a second competitive award period.
The performance-based competition will lead to selection of a primary mission autonomy provider for CCA Increment 1. The Air Force plans to make that selection 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 software contract also uses what the Air Force described as a first-of-its-kind award fee exposure strategy. Under that approach, operator feedback and combat performance will help determine what the Air Force pays for mission autonomy.
The Air Force said it will pay the full licensing fee only if a vendor provides a combat capability aligned with warfighter needs and feedback. The licensing model also allows the Air Force to award software licenses to any of the six vendors in the pool at any point over the next six years.
The service said this approach will allow it to procure the best-performing and most affordable solutions as technology changes. It is intended to keep competition active while giving the Air Force flexibility in selecting software providers.
A key enabler of the strategy is the government-owned Autonomy Government Reference Architecture, or A-GRA. Continuous A-GRA compliance is required for all vendors.
The Air Force said A-GRA provides the open systems architecture needed to decouple software from hardware. This is intended to allow mission autonomy software from any vendor in the pool to be integrated, updated and ported across different aircraft platforms.
“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.”
The Air Force intends to field about 1,000 combat-capable Collaborative Combat Aircraft. It said the acquisition strategy is built on continuous competition to reduce cost over time while increasing fighter capacity.
