General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

FQ-42A Vengeance

In Production

GA-ASI's Collaborative Combat Aircraft: a purpose-built uncrewed fighter designed for modular mission-system integration, with planned variants for surveillance, air-to-air and air-to-ground work. It is among the first aircraft to carry the FQ designation, F for fighter and Q for uncrewed. The Air Force named the production jet FQ-42A Vengeance on September 14, 2026, dropping the company name Dark Merlin. The YFQ-42A prototype flew in August 2025, 15 months after contract award, was lost in an April 2026 autopilot mishap, and returned to flight in May 2026. Production was ordered on June 17, 2026 at a program target cost near $30 million per aircraft. On July 21, 2026 a CCA test aircraft and a Tactical Air Support F-5 Advanced Tiger closed a kill chain using Infrared Search and Track Multi-Ship Ranging and TacACE software. The mission autonomy that flies it comes from a separate competition: Collins Aerospace's Sidekick software has been flying the aircraft, and the primary autonomy provider for Increment 1 is chosen by summer 2027.

Latest update Sep 21, 2026

FQ-42A Vengeance

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Current status

Production contract awarded June 17, 2026; Air Force named the jet FQ-42A Vengeance on Sept 14; line converted to six CCAs a month, no deliveries announced yet.

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Specifications4

First Flight
August 2025

(YFQ-42A), 15 months after contract award

Production Order
June 17, 2026; contract value classified
Target Unit Cost

Roughly less than $30M per tail, about a third of an F-35

Test Record
One test article destroyed April 6, 2026

(autopilot weight and center-of-gravity error); flights resumed May 21, 2026

Announced next steps from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems that mention FQ-42A Vengeance.

  1. By 2030

    Deliver the first production FQ-42A aircraft

    The June 2026 award started production but no delivery date has been announced. Full-scale manufacturing was underway by July 28, 2026. The Air Force wants at least 150 CCAs fielded from Increment 1 by the end of the decade, split with Anduril in proportions it has declined to disclose, so the first delivered tails are the first real evidence of how that split lands. Secretary Troy Meink on September 14, 2026 raised the in-service target to at least 500 CCAs by 2032 and named the jet FQ-42A Vengeance.

  1. Air Force names Fury and Vengeance CCA jets

    Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink formally named the service's first Collaborative Combat Aircraft on September 14: General Atomics' FQ-42A Vengeance and Anduril's FQ-44A Fury. Speaking at the AFA Air, Space and Cyber Conference, he said the Air Force intends to have at least 500 CCAs in service by 2032, up from the prior goal of more than 150 by the end of the decade. Both Increment 1 jets are already in production after first flights in August and October 2025.

    Stars and Stripes DefenseScoop + Anduril Industries

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