General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GAAS) announced that they plan to develop a European-built uncrewed loyal wingman based on the YFQ-42A prototype, which is currently in the running for the US Air Force’s (USAF) Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme.
YFQ-42A, the baseline prototype, is currently undertaking ground testing and is scheduled for its first flight later this summer.
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The uncrewed combat aircraft provides mass effect for a crewed fighter at the tactical level. Through a modular open systems approach, the platform can be fitted with various internal systems from different suppliers for a mix of surveillance and air-to-ground missions.
Crucially, given the trend towards strategic autonomy on the continent, partly on account of US protectionism and a need to increase European defence industrial competitiveness, GAAS will align with a German affiliate, namely the Bavarian GA Aerotec Systems GmbH.
Aerotec have provided aircraft support in Europe for more than four decades. The company, a subsidiary of GA Eurrope, build planes – notably the Dornier 228 short take-off and landing turboprop aircraft – and offer modernisation and maintenance support for platforms, including NH90 helicopters.
CCA competition against Anduril
GAAS showcased a model of the CCA for the second time in Europe at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2025, after its inaugural display at the Paris Air Show a month earlier.
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By GlobalDataNotably, this was also the first time that Anduril, a competitor for the USAF CCA programme, displayed Fury, it own CCA proposal in Paris last month to bring the concept to Europe.
USAF wittled the programme down to the two companies in April 2024.
While GAAS have delivered more than 1,200 aircraft globally, and are known for their MQ-9 family of surveillance uncrewed air systems (UAS), Anduril have already delivered its own extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle, Ghost Shark, to the Royal Australian Navy in August last year.
During RIAT 25, Airforce Technology interviewed a GAAS spokesperson regarding their aims and the challenges that come with bringing CCAs to Europe.
GCAP and FCAS
The United States have invested heavily in uncrewed systems through its CCA programme. Under fiscal year 2026 funds, this comes to $807m in research and development to finance sustained autonomy developments for CCAs.
“This means something,” the spokesperson said. European nations should “leverage the partnership with the US Air Force”.
When asked whether the highly customisable CCAs will detract from some nations’ ambitions to increase exportability, at the cost of an exquisite capability – a goal of the UK in the past year and half – the spokesperson suggested that groups of nations could approach GAAS as a collective to standardise their systems, perhaps through Nato.
In the end it is up to the customer, the spokesperson said, “from a General Atomics persperctive, it’s out of our hands”.
However, GAAS and Anduril approach Europe with CCAs at an opportune time. Loyal wingmen form a critical part of the crewed-uncrewed concept that is purported to be a feature of sixth generation aerial warfare.
GAAS are looking to “meet those rapid deadlines” on the continent. There is the Future Combat Air System among France, Germany, and Spain which aim to develop a fighter by 2040 at the latest. However, the trilateral alliance is said to be struggling internally.
In contrast, the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) among Italy, Japan and the UK is hitting its milestones: signing a treaty, establishing a government structure, and just last week the trio unveiled a testbed aircraft. To that end, GCAP aim to fly an advanced fighter by 2035.
However, the pressure is on to deliver the crewed fighter within the next ten years. This will prove difficult judging from the subtle turn of phrase that the UK Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry used in a parliamentary written response in stating that their ambition remains to deliver an aircraft into service “from 2035”, not necessarily by that time.
“The US Air Force are trying to build mass fast,” the spokesperson said, specifiying that GAAS aim to produce one CCA platform every day based in the United States.
It is too early to tell whether this rate can be applied to Europe, but the spokesperson noted that the company currently leverage one million square feet of manufacturing space in Europe.
“I wouldn’t hazard putting a [production rate] number to that,” they said, “but mass means numbers”.
Instead of duplicating different programmes to the same end, they added, it makes more sense for European nations to “leap frog” off the back of US advances.
