General Atomics’ Dark Merlin Drone Crashes During CCA Flight Test
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.’s (GA-ASI) drone prototype for the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program has crashed following a mishap after takeoff.
Designated the YFQ-42A and also known as “Dark Merlin,” the uncrewed platform went down at a company-owned airport in California, prompting GA-ASI to temporarily pause flight tests.
The aircraft was one of several production-representative YFQ-42As that fly regularly for testing.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the root cause of the incident.
“Safety is our top priority, for our people and the public. In this case, established procedures and safeguards worked as intended, and there were no injuries,” said GA-ASI spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley.
Drone Wingmen
The CCA program is a key effort to develop autonomous or semi-autonomous drones to operate alongside crewed fighter aircraft as “loyal wingmen.”
GA-ASI and Anduril were down-selected in April 2024 for the program’s first increment, with a production decision expected this summer.
The US Air Force requested nearly $1 billion in its FY 2027 budget for the first batch of CCAs.
Despite the incident, analysts say the mishap is unlikely to affect the competition.
Rebecca Wasser, defense lead at Bloomberg Economics, told Defense One: “I think the fact that the Department of Defense has relaxed some of its operational testing and evaluation standards at the direction of the secretary, speaks to the fact that I don’t think that there’s going to be any blowback from the Pentagon about this.”
Dark Merlin
The modular YFQ-42A is designed for reconnaissance and strike missions.
It completed its first flight in August 2025 and demonstrated a semi-autonomous mission in February 2026 using Collins Aerospace’s Sidekick Collaborative Mission Autonomy software.
The drone is also being evaluated as a surrogate testbed for the US Marine Corps’ version of the CCA program.
