General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has partnered with Spirit Defense, a Boeing company, to support airframe production of the FQ-42 Vengeance Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), according to GA-ASI.
Spirit Defense will act as fuselage design-build partner. Its engineering and advanced manufacturing capabilities will support the programme from design through production. The deal follows a June contract from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for FQ-42A production.
Scaling production
GA-ASI has built every aircraft in its uncrewed line since the company’s founding in 1992. That line includes the MQ-9A Reaper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-20 Avenger and MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian. The FQ-42 marks the first time it will share airframe work at this level.
GA-ASI says the partnership adds manufacturing capacity and industrial depth. It also reduces the risk of single points of failure in the supply chain.
“With Spirit Defense we add capacity, which is exactly the kind of production resilience our U.S. Air Force customer is looking for,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. Spirit Defense President and CEO Keith Schrader said his team understands the responsibility of supporting critical national defence programmes.
About the aircraft
The FQ-42 is a purpose-built uncrewed fighter, developed with the USAF as part of its investment in semi-autonomous combat aircraft. Its modular design allows rapid integration of mission systems and autonomy software. GA-ASI says live flight tests on multiple airframes have demonstrated its software architecture, which underpins human-machine teaming in complex combat scenarios.
International outlook
GA-ASI is also in talks with several international militaries about its Gambit Series of modular CCAs. The family draws on work from the FQ-42, the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station and the MQ-20 Avenger. It targets electronic warfare, suppression and destruction of enemy air defences, and stand-off precision strike.
Customers procuring Gambit aircraft could add indigenous manufacturing to their programmes, GA-ASI says. They could also integrate their own sensors, weapons and other combat technologies.
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