USAF CCA Production Contracts: Anduril FQ-44 and General Atomics FQ-42 Enter Serial Manufacture

On 17 June 2026, the United States Air Force awarded production contracts to Anduril Industries and General Atomics for Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1, the first time a major military has committed to serial manufacture of fighter-class autonomous combat aircraft. The service contracted over 150 FQ-44A Fury and FQ-42A Dark Merlin aircraft for delivery by the end of the decade, targeting a unit cost below $30 million per aircraft, roughly one-third the flyaway price of an F-35A at recent production lots. In a parallel action, Shield AI received a production contract for Hivemind mission autonomy software. The trifecta of airframe, software, and government-retained architectural standard marks the transition of autonomous combat aviation from experimental programme to scheduled procurement.