FQ-42 Dark Merlin

The General Atomics FQ-42 Dark Merlin is an American unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems as one of the two winning designs of Increment I of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, alongside the Anduril FQ-44 Fury. It is intended to augment crewed fighters such as the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II and the planned Boeing F-47 in air-to-air missions through manned-unmanned teaming, giving the Air Force "affordable mass": an aircraft cheap enough that commanders can accept greater risk with it, without being considered expendable.

Development

The FQ-42 belongs to General Atomics' "Gambit" family of UCAVs and derives from the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station demonstrator built for the Air Force Research Laboratory, modified for higher speed and fighter-like maneuverability. The airframe features an elongated fuselage with slender wings, a dorsal-mounted air intake, a single engine, V-tails and an internal weapons bay, with a planned armament of two AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.

Designated YFQ-42A in 2025 - part of the first "fighter drone" designation series in U.S. Air Force history - the prototype began flight testing on 27 August 2025. A YFQ-42A was lost in a crash shortly after takeoff on 6 April 2026, traced to an autopilot miscalculation of the aircraft's weight and center of gravity; testing resumed on 21 May 2026. The aircraft was named "Dark Merlin", after a type of falcon, in February 2026, and in June 2026 the Air Force selected both CCA designs for initial production, with a combined 150 FQ-42s and FQ-44s planned by 2030.