On April 6, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) reported that one of its YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft experienced in in-flight mishap following takeoff from a company-owned airport in the California desert. The accident happened at approximately 1 p.m. Pacific time.

There were no injuries, but GA-ASI has not clarified the extent of the damage suffered by the platform. The Company says it is “assessing the condition of the aircraft” and investigating to establish the root cause of the incident. Flight testing was paused temporarily “in an abundance of caution” and will resume once investigations bring enough confidence.

The aircraft involved in the mishap is “one of several” production-representative YFQ-42A CCAs currently in the technical maturation and risk reduction phase of the program for the U.S. Air Force. These jets fly regularly from the company-owned facilities.

This is the first known flight-related accident involving one of the CCA Increment 1 prototypes. GA-ASI’s YFQ-42A was the first CCA to fly, preceding Anduril’s YFQ-44A by a few months in 2025. GA-ASI’s aircraft, in a partly different configuration, has actually been flying since February 2024, when it first took off in its XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station variant for another USAF project.

CCA trials are progressing towards employment of air to air weapons ahead of a competitive Increment 1 production decision is expected later this year. The Fiscal Year 2027 budget request for the Department of War includes almost a billion dollars in procurement funding for CCAs.

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