GA-ASI has named its YFQ-42 Collaborative Fight Plane as Darkish Merlin, a small, fierce falcon species which hunts different falcons whereas collaborating in teams.
Common Atomics Aeronautical Programs (GA-ASI) has introduced on Feb. 23, 2026, the choice to call Darkish Merlin its YFQ-42A Collaborative Fight Plane (CCA). The choice of the title of a particular falcon species has been motivated by its traits which displays those of CCAs.
The truth is, darkish merlins are a small and fierce falcon species that use shock assaults to hunt and convey down different falcons in flight, equally to the CCA’s deliberate air-to-air position. Furthermore, in one other similarity with CCAs, these falcons usually collaborate in teams for max impact in opposition to their targets.
“Darkish merlins are searching machines, constructed for pace and aerodynamics,” stated GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “They harass different falcons for enjoyable, they usually eat what they kill. The title sums up our new uncrewed fighter completely.”
Taking inspiration from a nimble predator, GA-ASI publicizes #YFQ42A Darkish Merlin.
Learn the information: #UCAV pic.twitter.com/nhvBRtUn5Y
— Common Atomics Aeronautical Programs, Inc (GA-ASI) (@GenAtomics_ASI) February 23, 2026
Notably, darkish merlins are additionally a identified presence round GA-ASI’s manufacturing plant in San Diego, California, the place the YFQ-42 is constructed. The truth is, whereas this species is native to the Pacific Northwest of the USA, it usually migrates into southern California.
In its press launch, GA-ASI additionally famous one other reference to revolution being introduced by autonomous methods within the air fight world:
The 1962 e-book “Profiles of the Future” imagined world technological marvels but to alter the world, providing that “any sufficiently superior expertise is indistinguishable from magic.” It’s no coincidence that the Darkish Merlin title additionally displays the wizardry of Merlin from Arthurian legend, paying homage to the considerably supernatural new period of semi-autonomous air fight.
The YFQ-42
As we beforehand reported right here at The Aviationist, GA-ASI can be on contract with the U.S. Air Power for the Collaborative Fight Plane Program. Two plane are at the moment being flight examined, with the primary taking off for the primary time on Aug. 27, 2025, and the second on Oct. 31, 2025.
The YFQ-42A is designed for semi-autonomous air-to-air operations and attracts on the “genus-species” method pioneered with the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS). GA-ASI says it leveraged superior model-based digital engineering to speed up the plane’s improvement whereas optimizing capabilities for future air dominance.
In comparison with the XQ-67, the YFQ-42A options an engine air inlet with serrated edges, much like the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, in addition to apparently barely modified fuselage mould traces. The nostril can be totally different, altering from the XQ-67’s ‘shovel’-like design to a extra standard one.
Variations could be seen within the wings’ design, with the YFQ-42 displaying a better sweep angle and a better taper ratio, in addition to a bigger floor. The V-tails, though they’ve an angle much like the XQ-67’s, look like shorter, with increased taper ratio and no clipped suggestions.
These design adjustments is likely to be the results of makes an attempt to cut back the airframe’s radar cross-section to match stealth necessities of the CCA program. Additionally, the modifications mirror the CCA’s necessities for pace and maneuverability.
Central to this system is the autonomy core that can make the YFQ-42 capable of function along with manned plane. The corporate says this core has been refined by way of greater than 5 years of testing on the MQ-20 Avenger, which can be getting used to check a number of autonomy brokers for the Air Power.
Lately, the YFQ-42A has efficiently accomplished the first semi-autonomous airborne mission utilizing third-party autonomy software program provided by Collins Aerospace. Collins’ Sidekick Collaborative Mission Autonomy software program was built-in by way of the government-owned Autonomy Authorities Reference Structure (A-GRA).
Through the check, the autonomy software program was activated from the Floor Station Console (GSC), and a human operator transmitted mission instructions on to the plane, which executed them precisely for greater than 4 hours, says the corporate. A strong and dependable information trade was established between the autonomy software program and the plane’s mission methods, with the check highlighting each the effectiveness of Sidekick’s capabilities and the flexibleness of the A-GRA structure.
The A-GRA customary is designed as a Modular Open Programs Method (MOSA), one thing that has change into a recurring side of current improvement packages of the U.S. navy, as we frequently reported right here at The Aviationist. With the primary focus of MOSA being the power to simply combine and improve parts on an plane, the method ensures that autonomy algorithms could be swapped or upgraded with out the necessity for in depth modifications to the plane itself.
The testing focuses on proving that mission software program could be quickly ported between platforms, creating what the Air Power describes as a aggressive and adaptable ecosystem for future autonomous air fight methods. The service explains this validates a core precept of the brand new acquisition technique: decoupling software program from {hardware} by way of an open, modular structure to speed up innovation and keep away from dependence on a single vendor – the so-called “vendor lock.”
By combining a stealthy, air-to-air-focused design with this AI-driven autonomy, the YFQ-42A is meant to offer warfighters with a bonus in future fight eventualities. Initially meant to enrich the Subsequent Technology Air Dominance manned fighter, the Boeing F-47, the CCAs may even fly with the present fifth gen platforms, the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II.
GA-ASI emphasised that this system is designed round scalability and affordability. The corporate is making ready for high-rate manufacturing that will assist the Air Power’s acknowledged objective of fielding greater than 1,000 CCAs on an accelerated timeline.
