Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “AIR has successfully completed the first flight of its Production AIR Cargo-Heavy Lift UAS, a VTOL platform designed with a payload capacity of approximately 550 lbs and a 70-cubic-foot cargo bay.”
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AIR Cargo Drone Takes Flight
AIR eVTOL; YouTube; Framegrab
AVWEB reports, “The U.S. Army announced Friday that it has taken delivery of an H-60 Black Hawk helicopter configured for both autonomous and piloted flight, beginning a new phase of testing focused on optionally piloted aircraft. The platform incorporates autonomy technology developed through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, which has been under development for more than a decade. According to the Army, the system is designed as a retrofit kit that can be installed on existing aircraft to automate flight functions and reduce pilot workload.”
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Aviation Week reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) announced Feb. 23 that its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) has a name: the Dark Merlin. The GA-ASI YFQ-42A is one of two CCAs being developed for the U.S. Air Force’s first increment of its program, along with the Anduril YFA-44A. After first flights in 2025, both of the prototypes now await a potential production award in 2026.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
The YFQ-42A drone by General Atomics
(Techno Thunder; YouTube)
Aviation Week reports, “An air-launched missile-carrying uncrewed aircraft developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for DARPA’s LongShot project has been designated the X-68A ahead of flight tests expected by year-end. The LongShot is designed to be carried by fighters and bombers, or as a palletized munition on airlifters, and launched to fly ahead and engage targets with its own internally carried air-to-air missiles. The goal is to increase launch platform survivability and extend combat reach.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Aviation Week reports, “Boeing Australia expects to have the operational version of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat flying for that nation’s air force by 2028 as it uses momentum there to garner international interest for a later block of the collaborative combat aircraft. The MQ-28 program closed out 2025 with an AIM-120 shot from a Ghost Bat flying with Boeing’s F/A-18s and E-7—a significant milestone that the company says showcases how mature the trailblazing CCA has become.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Aviation International News reports, “Leonardo has made the first flight of what it described as the UK’s ‘first autonomous full-size helicopter,’ the ‘Proteus’ technology demonstrator. The milestone was reported on January 16 by the Royal Navy, which is working with the Italy-based aerospace and defense group on the project.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Video
Viral Vantage Vista; YouTube
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Chuck Yeager predicted that autonomous aircraft would someday dominate the future of air combat. Last October, Yeager’s vision was realized when Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A Fury became the first next-gen autonomous fighter jet to fly its full mission profile without direct human intervention.
Breaking Defense reports, “Defense tech startup Anduril’s prototype bid for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program achieved its first flight, the service announced [Friday]. The YFQ-44A drone flew ‘at a California test location’ at an undisclosed time today, the Air Force said in a press release. The drone is the second to reach the flight testing stage for the Air Force’s drone wingman program, following General Atomics’s YFQ-42A that took off for the first time in August.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)