{"id":85037,"date":"2026-02-12T22:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T22:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/02\/12\/us-air-forces-cca-program-advances-with-auto-flying-software-integration\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:19:22","slug":"us-air-forces-cca-program-advances-with-auto-flying-software-integration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2026\/02\/12\/us-air-forces-cca-program-advances-with-auto-flying-software-integration\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force\u2019s CCA program advances with auto-flying software integration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force said Thursday that government-owned autonomous software programs have been successfully integrated into both of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/unmanned\/2024\/04\/24\/here-are-the-two-companies-creating-drone-wingmen-for-the-us-air-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/unmanned\/2024\/04\/24\/here-are-the-two-companies-creating-drone-wingmen-for-the-us-air-force\/\">prototype collaborative combat aircraft<\/a>, in a major milestone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, the service said this shows a central pillar of its CCA strategy \u2014 that they can be easily modified and upgraded using a modular open systems architecture \u2014 can work, and improve how the defense industrial base operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CCAs are drone wingmen that are intended to fly sem-autonomously alongside aircraft such as the F-35A and next-generation F-47 fighter. The Air Force hopes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2025\/05\/14\/air-force-eyes-longer-range-for-f-47-as-combat-edge-in-pacific-theater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2025\/05\/14\/air-force-eyes-longer-range-for-f-47-as-combat-edge-in-pacific-theater\/\">field at least 1,000 CCAs<\/a> in varying configurations, and have them carry out missions such as strike operations, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and as decoys to lure enemy fire away from piloted fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force in 2024 contracted with General Atomics and Anduril Industries to make its first CCAs, the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, respectively. Ground testing for both began in spring 2025, and later that year, flight tests began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This third-party autonomous software was integrated into both CCA models using a system called Autonomy Government Reference Architecture, or A-GRA, the service said. This shows that mission software can be \u201cdecoupled\u201d from the hardware used by specific vehicles, the service said, and make technology integration easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVerifying A-GRA across multiple partners is critical to our acquisition strategy,\u201d Col. Timothy Helfrich, the Air Force\u2019s portfolio acquisition executive, said in the statement. \u201cIt proves that we are not locked into a single solution or a single vendor. We are instead building a competitive ecosystem where the best algorithms can be deployed rapidly to the warfighter on any A-GRA compliant platform, regardless of the vendor providing the algorithm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YFQ-44A-flightline.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-120734\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YFQ-44A-flightline.jpg.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YFQ-44A-flightline.jpg.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YFQ-44A-flightline.jpg.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YFQ-44A-flightline.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YFQ-44A-flightline.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anduril Industries&#8217; YFQ-44A CCA expects to fly with Shield AI&#8217;s autonomous programming in coming months. (Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By preventing \u201cvendor lock,\u201d the Air Force said, the service will be able to rapidly install new software and algorithms into CCAs, making a more agile force that can keep up with evolving threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">General Atomics and Anduril each released their own statements about the integration success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">General Atomics said the integration of RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace\u2019s software \u2014 dubbed the Sidekick Collaborative Mission Autonomy \u2014 using A-GRA allowed the YFQ-42A to conduct its first semiautonomous airborne mission and launch flight tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The software\u2019s integration with the YFQ-42A\u2019s flight control system allowed \u201crobust and reliable\u201d data exchange with the CCA\u2019s mission systems, which ensured the drone precisely carried out the software\u2019s commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">General Atomics said a human operator on the ground transmitted commands directly to the YFQ-42A, which the drone then accurately followed, for more than four hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are excited to collaborate with Collins to deliver enhanced autonomous mission solutions,\u201d said David Alexander, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. \u201cThe integration of Sidekick with our YFQ-42A demonstrates our commitment to innovation and operational excellence in unmanned aircraft technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jason Levin, Anduril\u2019s senior vice president of engineering, called integrating mission autonomy into CCAs \u201ca meaningful step towards fielding a real operational capability by the end of the decade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYFQ-44A was designed from the ground up with an emphasis on modularity,\u201d Levin said. \u201cThe aircraft\u2019s simple design, external weapons stores, and open hardware and software architectures ensure that the aircraft can easily be configured with a range of mission systems, software suites and payloads to support a wide variety of missions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Levin said Anduril has worked closely with Shield AI on integrating its autonomous software for several months, and that the company \u201clook[s] forward to flying YFQ-44A with their software onboard very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The service said integrating third-party autonomous software is a major step on developing drones that can fly themselves alongside jets like the F-35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3320],"class_list":["post-85037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SFF4G66IQ5FA3ENMGRGKP44GIQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2026\/02\/12\/us-air-forces-cca-program-advances-with-auto-flying-software-integration\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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