Future tranches of the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program may be less expensive and sophisticated than previously expected, a senior Air Force officer said Thursday.
Speaking at a virtual Warfighters in Action event hosted by the Air and Space Forces Association, Maj. Gen. Joseph D. Kunkel, director of Force Design, Integration and Wargaming, said the service is reevaluating the attributes of its CCA Increment 2 drones.
He noted that while former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall had predicted Increment 2 would produce “more exquisite” and costlier drones, ongoing assessments suggest the Air Force may prioritize lower-cost, less-complex designs to achieve greater “affordable mass.”
“I think you’ll see a range of options, from the low end to potentially more exquisite,” Kunkel said. “I tend to think that it’s probably going to be closer to this low-end thing when we start looking at the further CCA increments.”
Kunkel emphasized that increasing the number of available drones would allow the Air Force to generate more combat power while complicating adversary defenses. He suggested that future CCAs could support not only fighters like the F-35 and F-47 but also bombers such as the B-21 Raider and surveillance aircraft like the E-7 Wedgetail.
Increment 1 of the CCA program, now underway, involves contracts with General Atomics and Anduril to build two types of fighter-aligned drones, designated YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A. The Air Force plans to buy between 100 and 150 Increment 1 CCAs, but aims for a long-term fleet potentially numbering in the thousands.
YFQ-42A. Fighter capacity—affordable mass—at a lower cost and threat-relevant timeline. Read more about GA-ASI’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft solution: https://t.co/yjr5JsAh61#UAS #SAS2025 #YFQ42A pic.twitter.com/317XVmuRln
— General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) (@GenAtomics_ASI) April 9, 2025
Former Secretary Kendall had estimated that Increment 2 drones could cost 20-30% more than Increment 1 vehicles, targeting prices between approximately $24.6 million and $35.7 million per unit. However, Kunkel’s comments indicate that achieving lower costs and maximizing force numbers could be prioritized over additional sophistication.
Kunkel also addressed future operational flexibility, suggesting that the Air Force is exploring alternative basing concepts for CCAs to avoid reliance on fixed airfields vulnerable to enemy attack. This could involve air-launched or catapult-launched drones, expanding operational resilience.
The CCA program, launched under the fiscal 2024 budget, is central to the Air Force’s broader Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) strategy, which includes the forthcoming Boeing F-47 fighter. The service aims to build a diverse fleet of crewed and uncrewed systems to maintain air superiority against peer adversaries.
