The Department of the Air Force has begun ground testing for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, marking a major milestone in its effort to integrate autonomous systems into the future force. Continue reading
GA-ASI Statement on USAF CCA Program Updates
The CCA program represents a groundbreaking new era in combat aviation, and we remain on schedule to test and fly YFQ-42 in the coming months. Over the past three decades, GA-ASI has pioneered more than two dozen different unmanned aircraft types for the U.S. and its allies, including multiple unmanned combat jets flying today, and logged nearly 9 million total flight hours. Our work on YFQ-42 will further expand the field of unmanned aviation, and we remain excited for the future.
Airbus, Shield AI Partner to Integrate Autonomy on Unmanned Aerial Logistics Connector
– Airbus U.S. Space & Defense and Shield AI announced a teaming agreement to integrate Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software on the Airbus MQ-72C Logistics Connector, an unmanned variant of the UH-72 Lakota. The collaboration will expand the platform’s mission capabilities through autonomy-enabled operations across a wide range of logistics and operational scenarios—including those under the U.S. Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) program. Continue reading
Ship Bottom Inspection Using Water-Air Integrated Drone
– KDDI Smart Drone Corporation, Prodrone Corporation, and Kunimori Corporation were selected for the Cabinet Office National Ocean Policy Promotion Secretariat’s “Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle (AUV) Utilization Demonstration Project” and conducted a demonstration experiment of ship bottom inspection in Hyogo Prefecture. Continue reading
NASA Studies Wind Effects and Aircraft Tracking with Joby Aircraft
NASA engineers began using a network of ground sensors in March to collect data from an experimental air taxi to evaluate how to safely integrate such vehicles into airspace above cities – in all kinds of weather. Researchers will use the campaign to help improve tools to assist with collision avoidance and landing operations and ensure safe and efficient air taxi operations in various weather conditions. Continue reading
Douglas SBD Dauntless – the Dive Bomber they Thought was a Joke – Until it Sank their Entire Fleet
June 4, 1942. It’s the height of the Pacific War, and Admiral Chuichi Nagumo stands on Akagi’s bridge. Below him stretches the pride of Japan’s navy, four aircraft carriers that struck Pearl Harbor just months earlier, now slicing through open water toward Midway Atoll. The plan is simple: crush the island’s defenses, then lure out and destroy what’s left of America’s carriers. So far, everything is going according to plan. Continue reading
Baykar and Leonardo Partnership Officially Exchanged at Turkey – Italy Intergovernmental Summit
The strategic cooperation agreement signed in March between Baykar, the leading company in the global UCAV market, and Leonardo, one of the world’s largest defence companies, was officially exchanged today at a ceremony held as part of the 4th Türkiye-Italy Intergovernmental Summit in Rome. The ceremony at Villa Pamphili Residence took place in the presence of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
GA-ASI Delivers MQ-9A Block 5 Extended Range UAS to USMC
– General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. delivered an MQ-9A Reaper Unmanned Aircraft Systems to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). The new MQ-9A Block 5 Extended Range (ER) UAS was delivered on April 22, 2025, and will be operated by Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1), a USMC operational test squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona. Continue reading