US Air Force Drone Wingman Program Faces First Known Flight Mishap
A General Atomics YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototype crashed shortly after takeoff in the California desert on April 6, 2026, marking the first known flight mishap for the US Air Force’s flagship drone-wingman program. The incident occurred at a company-owned airport, and no one was injured. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has temporarily paused flight test operations while it investigates the root cause. The YFQ-42A is one of two Increment 1 CCA designs competing for a fleet of over 1,000 autonomous wingmen, with the other being Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A Fury. The crash comes at a critical moment for the CCA program, with a production decision expected in fiscal year 2026. This development was first reported by AeroTime.