Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue has completed its first flight at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The company said the aircraft autonomously taxied, took off, performed in-flight maneuvers and landed. Talon Blue is a company-funded aircraft developed under Northrop’s Project Talon portfolio.
First Flight
“Our customers made it clear they need autonomous systems that can be fielded faster and more affordably without sacrificing mission effectiveness,” Craig Woolston, Northrop Grumman vice president and general manager of research and advanced design, said in the company’s announcement. “We listened. Talon Blue’s first flight is one step toward a new generation of autonomous capabilities. Every flight and lesson strengthens our broader autonomy work and sharpens what comes next.”
Northrop says Talon Blue uses a modular design intended to support different missions and incorporates a high-mounted air intake, wide landing gear and an internal weapons bay. The Air Force formally designated the aircraft the YFQ-48A in December 2025 as a semi-autonomous prototype associated with its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
CCA Competition
The Air Force selected General Atomics and Anduril for its first CCA production contracts in June. Northrop remains among six companies selected for the service’s mission-autonomy software contract pool as development continues. The service plans to eventually acquire about 1,000 CCAs and has set a goal of having at least 500 aircraft in service by 2032.
The Talon Blue flight adds another aircraft to a growing group of autonomous designs under development for future Air Force requirements. General Atomics’ FQ-42 and Anduril’s FQ-44 have already entered flight testing, while the Air Force continues to evaluate aircraft and autonomy technologies for later phases of the CCA program.
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