# Collaborative Combat Aircraft **Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)** is the U.S. Air Force program to field uncrewed, AI-piloted "loyal wingman" aircraft that fly alongside crewed fighters — carrying sensors, weapons, or electronic-warfare payloads at a fraction of a manned jet's cost. The concept is central to the Air Force's affordable-mass strategy for a potential Indo-Pacific conflict. **Increment 1** was launched with an April 2024 award to [[Anduril]] and [[General Atomics]]. In June 2026 both vendors received the program's first **production** contracts — Anduril's **FQ-44A** [[Anduril Fury]] and General Atomics' **FQ-42A** Dark Merlin — covering a first tranche of roughly 150 aircraft, with a much larger Increment 2 (reported up to ~2,350 aircraft) to follow. A parallel **mission-autonomy software** competition kept [[Anduril]], [[Shield AI]] (Hivemind), and Collins Aerospace in contention. See [[Anduril Air Force CCA Production Contract]]. ## See Also - [[Anduril Fury]] - [[Anduril]] - [[General Atomics]] - [[Shield AI]] - [[U.S. Air Force]]