U.S. Marines Select GA-ASI YFQ-42A Drone for MUX Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program.

The U.S. Marine Corps has selected General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to integrate a government-provided mission package into its YFQ-42A under the MUX TACAIR Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The move advances the U.S. Marine Corps’ plan to field a carrier-capable uncrewed tactical aircraft designed for expeditionary operations in contested Indo-Pacific environments.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems announced on February 10, 2026, that it has been competitively selected by the U.S. Marine Corps for evaluation under the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft, or MUX TACAIR, Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, launching integration of a government-provided mission package into its YFQ-42A platform to assess manned-unmanned teaming with U.S. Marine Corps fighters.
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GA-ASI’s YFQ-42A takes to the skies during flight testing, demonstrating the autonomy and modular architecture now being evaluated by the U.S. Marine Corps under the MUX TACAIR CCA program. (Picture source: General Atomics)

The U.S. Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft MUX TACAIR (Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft Tactical Air Warfare) Collaborative Combat Aircraft program represents the latest evolution of the Marine Corps’ long-running MUX requirement. Initially conceived as a vertical takeoff and landing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform capable of operating from amphibious assault ships, the concept has progressively expanded into a broader vision for an uncrewed tactical aircraft. Under the MUX TACAIR framework, the Corps seeks a platform capable of conducting tactical air support missions, including strike, electronic warfare, air-to-air support, and persistent ISR, while integrating seamlessly with the Marine Air-Ground Task Force command structure. The addition of a Collaborative Combat Aircraft dimension aligns the Marine effort with the wider Pentagon strategy of deploying semi-autonomous, networked uncrewed aircraft to operate alongside fifth-generation fighters in distributed, highly contested operational environments.

Under the newly awarded agreement, GA-ASI will integrate a Marine Corps mission kit into the YFQ-42A to evaluate performance within the MAGTF construct, where aviation, ground maneuver, logistics, and command elements function as a scalable and self-contained force. The government-supplied kit is described as a cost-effective, sensor-rich, software-defined suite capable of delivering both kinetic and non-kinetic effects. This architecture indicates potential roles ranging from precision strike and close air support to electronic attack, signals intelligence, communications relay, and advanced targeting support. By using the YFQ-42A as a surrogate airframe, the Marine Corps can rapidly assess payload integration, autonomy maturity, and operational concepts before committing to a final production configuration.

The contract places strong emphasis on rapid autonomy development tailored to the government-provided mission package. GA-ASI will adapt its open autonomy architecture to enable supervised autonomous flight, collaborative tactics with crewed fighters such as the F-35B and F-35C, and mission-level decision support. In expeditionary scenarios, such autonomy is expected to enable the uncrewed aircraft to execute preplanned strike profiles, electronic warfare missions, or sensor sweeps while remaining under human oversight. For the Marine Corps, which is restructuring under Force Design 2030 to operate in smaller, distributed formations across maritime terrain, a low-cost, runway-flexible uncrewed aircraft offers a way to expand combat mass while reducing risk to pilots and high-value crewed assets.

The YFQ-42A itself represents GA-ASI’s purpose-built entry into the Pentagon’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft ecosystem. Unlike legacy remotely piloted aircraft optimized primarily for endurance ISR missions, the YFQ-42A has been designed from inception to be attritable and modular. The airframe features a streamlined fuselage with internal volume optimized for mission systems and fuel, a configuration intended to balance range, survivability, and cost. Its modular internal bays and open-architecture avionics backbone enable rapid integration of different sensor packages, electronic warfare suites, or precision-guided munitions, depending on service requirements.

Digital engineering has played a central role in the development of the YFQ-42A. The aircraft was designed using model-based systems engineering tools that support accelerated prototyping and software-defined upgrades. This digital backbone allows new mission applications to be integrated through software updates rather than extensive hardware redesign, a key advantage in fast-evolving threat environments. The platform’s flight control system is built to support varying degrees of autonomy, from remote piloting to advanced collaborative behaviors in which multiple CCAs coordinate with each other and with crewed fighters.

In April 2024, the U.S. Air Force selected GA-ASI to build production-representative flight-test articles for its CCA program, further validating the company’s design approach. The YFQ-42A completed its maiden flight in August 2025, a milestone that demonstrated the viability of GA-ASI’s “genus/species” development model. Under this concept, a common core aircraft serves as the genus, while mission-specific variants represent species tailored for different services or operational roles. This strategy reduces non-recurring engineering costs and accelerates adaptation across multiple branches of the armed forces.

From an operational standpoint, the YFQ-42A is engineered to function as a force multiplier rather than a standalone replacement for crewed fighters. In Marine Corps service, it could operate as a forward sensor node, detecting and classifying targets ahead of F-35 formations; as an electronic warfare escort, disrupting adversary air defenses; or as an additional weapons carrier, increasing the overall missile load available to a strike package. Its comparatively lower procurement and operating costs make it suitable for higher-risk missions where survivability is achieved through distribution, networking, and tactical coordination rather than individual platform stealth alone.

The evaluation phase of the MUX TACAIR CCA effort will likely examine autonomy reliability, mission system integration, secure communications resilience, and interoperability with Marine Corps command-and-control networks. Particular attention will be paid to how effectively the aircraft can deliver both kinetic and non-kinetic effects while maintaining robust human-machine teaming in degraded or contested electromagnetic environments. These assessments will inform future requirements for a production-level Marine Corps uncrewed tactical aircraft capable of operating from expeditionary bases and amphibious platforms.

GA-ASI brings extensive operational experience to the program. The company’s Predator family, including the MQ-9A Reaper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-20 Avenger, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian, has accumulated more than 9 million flight hours worldwide. However, the YFQ-42A reflects a decisive shift from endurance-focused remotely piloted aircraft to agile, tactically integrated combat drones designed to operate within peer-threat air-defense envelopes.

By selecting the YFQ-42A as a surrogate for the MUX TACAIR CCA evaluation, the Marine Corps is effectively testing the architecture of its future air combat ecosystem. The results will influence how the service balances crewed and uncrewed aviation assets, how it projects power from distributed maritime bases, and how it integrates autonomy into frontline tactical operations in the decades ahead.

Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.