Pictured is a Northrop Grumman photo of Project Talon.
Northrop Grumman used its Beacon autonomous testbed, announced in June, to accelerate development of the Project Talon autonomous drone offering for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
Modified for optionally autonomous flight, Beacon is a Model 437 Vanguard aircraft by Northrop Grumman-owned Scaled Composites, founded by aircraft designer and entrepreneur Burt Rutan in Mojave, Calif., in 1982.
“Built to fly alongside crewed fighters,” Project Talon “represents a paradigm shift in air dominance as an adaptive, collaborative teammate for combat missions,” Northrop Grumman said. “Project Talon combines greater mission versatility with the most advanced modular manufacturing techniques. This disruptive approach shortens timelines, emphasizing speed and simplicity…Project Talon was designed, built and on track to fly in under 24 months.”
Northrop Grumman displayed Project Talon in Mojave on Dec. 4..
The aircraft could be a contender for CCA Increment 2.
General Atomics‘ YFQ-42A CCA prototype, based on the company’s Gambit 2, is competing against Anduril Industries‘ YFQ-44A Fury for CCA Increment 1. The YFQ-42A began flight testing in August, and the YFQ-44A had its debut flight on Oct. 31.
Next year, the Air Force is to downselect to one and to begin CCA Increment 2 development.
In October, the Air Force delivered a 24-page Long Term USAF Fighter Force Structure report to Congress. Mandated under Section 142 of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the study calls for 1,558 combat-coded manned fighters in the next decade. The study does not project the service will reach the 1,145 congressionally mandated floor until 2030.
The Air Force has said that top modernization priorities include the Boeing F-47 sixth generation fighter, now in engineering and manufacturing development, and the CCA drones to accompany the F-35 and F-22 fighters by Lockheed Martin. Future force structure reports are to include CCA, the Air Force said.
A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.
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