February 11, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Marine Corps Selects General Atomics YFQ-42A for Evaluation
General Atomics Aeronautical (GA-ASI) announced on Tuesday that their YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft has been selected to undergo testing and evaluation as apart of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed...
General Atomics Aeronautical (GA-ASI) announced on Tuesday that their YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft has been selected to undergo testing and evaluation as apart of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR) program. The United States Marine Corps ultimately seeks experimentation and validation regarding unmanned-manned teaming amongst autonomous and crewed aircraft. Under this testing regime, the YFQ-42A will perform as a “surrogate” airframe fitted with a government-provided testing package to assess integration progress with Marine crewed fighter aircraft.
The contract signed by General Atomics designates that the YFQ-42A will be fitted with a Marine-Corps specific mission kit, in order to evaluate integration into the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Integration with the MAGTF will pave the way for autonomous integration within the U.S military’s most responsive units, with the test additionally serving as a trial run of CCA type aircraft within the Marine Corps expeditionary mission set. “Our YFQ-42, combined with our proven autonomy architecture and integration expertise, positions us to rapidly deliver an affordable CCA solution that enhances the Marine Air-Ground Task Force’s operational effectiveness in contested environments.”– Mike Atwood, Vice President of Advanced Programs for GA-ASI The modularity of the YFQ-42A and it’s flexible autonomy through a common “flight core” makes it ideal for the swapping of mission sets, lending the aircraft towards rapid testing of multiple, different