Arthur McMiler 
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. a contract to develop conceptual designs for collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA.
The contract calls for GA-ASI to create modular CCA designs that can be rapidly reconfigured and upgraded to meet evolving mission needs, including carrier-based operations, the company said Friday. The approach aligns with the Navy’s new acquisition strategy favoring smaller but faster procurements enabling rapid technology insertion instead of long development cycles.
GA-ASI Demo on Air Force CCA
The Navy program builds on GA-ASI’s work with the U.S. Air Force, for whom the company is designing and testing the YFQ-42A, which underwent its inaugural flight in August.
CCAs are semi-autonomous aircraft systems geared for coordinated operations with piloted fighters to increase sensing capabilities, expand lethality and reduce risk to human crews.
“We’re honored by the vote of confidence from the U.S. Navy and we’re eager to put what we’ve built to work for the future fleet,” said David Alexander, GA-ASI president.
“No one has more experience than we do with unmanned combat aircraft and we’re leveraging that to help the Navy get this capability onto the flight deck fast,” the company’s head remarked.
Other CCA Program Stakeholders
In addition to GA-ASI, Navy contracts on concepts for the CCA program have also been awarded to Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Anduril, according to a recent Breaking Defense exclusive report. It also noted that the service branch awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for a common drone control system for CCA.
