US advances prototype drone wingmen with autonomous software

The US Air Force has made significant progress in developing autonomous drone wingmen through its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, integrating government-owned autonomous software into two prototype models: General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A. These semi-autonomous drones, designed to operate alongside crewed fighters like the F-35A, are intended to perform a range of missions including strike, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and decoy operations. The Air Force aims to field at least 1,000 such aircraft in various configurations, marking a shift toward a modular, software-first acquisition strategy that emphasizes rapid innovation and flexibility over traditional hardware-centric upgrades. Central to this effort is the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA), a modular open systems framework that decouples mission software from specific hardware platforms. This approach prevents vendor lock-in, facilitates rapid integration of new technologies, and supports cross-platform adaptability. The integration work is led by RTX Collins (partner