Air Force Validates Software Architecture for Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program

February 18, 2026

By Woodrow Bellamy III

Anduril’s YFQ-44 aircraft are parked on the flightline at a California test location for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. (Image: U.S. Air Force)

The U.S. Air Force has achieved another development milestone for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program by demonstrating the performance of autonomous software capabilities across multiple airframes.

The CCA program centers on a new generation of uncrewed fighter aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed platforms in future conflicts. In a recent press release, the Air Force confirmed successful implementation of the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A‑GRA) on both the YFQ‑42 platform being developed by General Atomics and Anduril’s YFQ‑44, the second uncrewed fighter being built as part of the program.

The A‑GRA is a baseline architecture, developed by a consortium that includes the Air Force, to standardize interfaces and reference code for autonomous capabilities integrated into platforms like the CCA. The consortium also created a software development kit that mission autonomy providers use to develop autonomy software with specific behaviors. Aircraft manufacturers — Anduril and General Atomics for the CCA effort — are responsible for integrating mission and flight autonomy software that complies with A‑GRA, according to an August 2024 Air Force Life Cycle Management presentation given by Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton.

The mission autonomy vendors for the CCA program are Collins Aerospace and Shield AI. In a Feb. 12 press release, General Atomics confirmed the successful performance of Collins’ software on its YFQ‑42A CCA, which recently conducted its first semi‑autonomous flight. According to the announcement, GA‑ASI used Collins’ Sidekick Collaborative Mission Autonomy software to enable data exchanges between the autonomy stack and the aircraft’s mission systems to execute commands.

“The autonomy capabilities showcased in this flight highlight our dedicated investment to advance collaborative mission autonomy,” said Ryan Bunge, Vice President and General Manager for Strategic Defense Solutions at Collins Aerospace, an RTX business. “The rapid integration of Sidekick onto this General Atomics platform and its immediate ability to support a broad spectrum of combat‑relevant behaviors underscores the strength and flexibility of our open-systems approach.”

Separately, Shield AI announced its selection for Anduril’s YFQ‑44A, noting that its Hivemind autonomy software has been integrated into the aircraft and is supporting system‑level testing ahead of flight demonstrations. Hivemind is an artificial intelligence system that Shield AI says can go beyond traditional autopilots by “rerouting around no‑fly zones, avoiding or engaging obstacles, responding to unexpected conditions, and completing missions safely and effectively without human intervention.”

YFQ-42 aircraft sit on the flightline at a California test location as part of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft flight test campaign. The CCA program validates a modular, open-systems approach, allowing the Air Force to rapidly integrate the best technology from any vendor to equip the warfighter faster. (Image: U.S. Air Force)

Beyond the YFQ‑44A, Hivemind has supported uncrewed flights on multiple aircraft and drones, including the X‑62A VISTA modified fighter jet, the Airbus UH‑72 Lakota, and the U.S. Navy’s BQM‑177 test aircraft.

“Delivering mission autonomy in real‑world combat conditions is hard, which is why Shield AI has spent more than a decade building Hivemind and the technical and operational foundation to do it right,” said Christian Gutierrez, Vice President of Hivemind Solutions at Shield AI.

Air Force officials also emphasized A‑GRA’s alignment with the Modular Open System Approach (MOSA), which aims to prevent vendor lock‑in. The A‑GRA validation milestone is the latest demonstration of MOSA‑aligned investment within the service, following its recent selection of Curtiss‑Wright Defense Solutions to provide mission‑computer upgrades for the C‑17 Globemaster III fleet.

“Verifying A‑GRA across multiple partners is critical to our acquisition strategy,” said Col. Timothy Helfrich, Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft. “It proves that we are not locked into a single solution or a single vendor. We are instead building a competitive ecosystem where the best algorithms can be deployed rapidly to the warfighter on any A‑GRA–compliant platform, regardless of the vendor providing the algorithm. We are seeing the vision of a modular, adaptable force come to life.”