General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has integrated 3rd-party mission autonomy into the YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to conduct its first semi-autonomous airborne mission.
"We are excited to collaborate with Collins to deliver enhanced autonomous mission solutions,” President of GA-ASI, David Alexander, said.
“The integration of Sidekick with our YFQ-42A demonstrates our commitment to innovation and operational excellence in unmanned aircraft technology."
For this test, GA-ASI has used mission autonomy software supplied by Collins Aerospace, to fly the new YFQ-42A CCA, designed and developed by GA-ASI for the US Air Force.
“The autonomy capabilities showcased in this flight highlight our dedicated investment to advance collaborative mission autonomy,” Collins Aerospace, Vice President and General Manager for Strategic Defense Solutions, Ryan Bunge, stated.
“The rapid integration of Sidekick onto this General Atomics platform and its immediate ability to support a broad spectrum of combat-relevant behaviors underscores the strength and flexibility of our open systems approach.”
The Sidekick Collaborative Mission Autonomy software was integrated with the YFQ-42A’s flight control system, utilising the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA). The integration has enabled data exchange between the autonomy software and the aircraft’s mission systems.
During the recent testing, autonomy mode was activated via the Ground Station Console (GSC). Once enabled, a human autonomy operator on the ground transmitted various commands directly to the YFQ-42A, which executed the instructions for more than four hours.
This first mission autonomy flight has continued the YFQ-42A development schedule for GA-ASI that began in August 2025 with initial flights of YFQ-42A Tail One.