Northrop Grumman YFQ-48 Talon Blue

The Northrop Grumman YFQ-48 Talon Blue is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) of the loyal wingman type, currently in development. It is a contender for Increment II of the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The aircraft is designed to support crewed fighters—including the F-15EX Eagle II, F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning, and the future Next Generation Air Dominance platform—in air-to-air missions through manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T).

The YFQ-48 emerged from lessons learned after Northrop Grumman’s unsuccessful bid for CCA Increment I. That earlier design was larger and more expensive than the two selected for Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD): the General Atomics YFQ-42 and Anduril YFQ-44. In response, Northrop Grumman and its subsidiary Scaled Composites began work on a follow-on system under the codename “Project Lotus,” aiming for a smaller, simpler, and cheaper vehicle with 50% fewer parts and a weight reduction of 1,000 lb. “Project Lotus” was later renamed “Project Talon,” and the design received the YFQ-48 designation from the Air Force in December 2025. First flight is projected for 2026.

The YFQ-48 features a long, slender fuselage, swept lambda wings, V-tails, and a top-mounted air inlet. It is powered by a variant of the PW500 engine. The main landing gear are widely spaced and retract into the wings.