New Fighter Drone designations revealed

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General Atomics and Anduril's CCAs are officially designated YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, the first aircraft with 'fighter drone' prefixes ever.

The U.S. Air Force has designated the drones that General Atomics and Anduril are currently developing as part of the first phase, or Increment 1, of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program as the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, respectively. These appear to be the U.S. military’s first ever ‘fighter drone’ designations. The Increment 1 CCAs are expected to work closely together with crewed combat jets primarily in the air-to-air combat role, at least initially.

Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Allvin announced the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A during a keynote address at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2025 Warfare Symposium this evening, at which TWZ is in attendance. In the U.S. military-wide designation system for aircraft and missiles, “F” stands for “fighter” and “Q” stands for drone. The “Y” at the front indicates a prototype design.

Full article: https://www.twz.com/air/fighter-drone-d ... ft-by-usaf