Northrop Grumman announced that it has completed autonomous taxi testing of the YFQ-48A Talon Blue, the company’s promotional vehicle for the U.S. Air Force’s Cooperative Combat Aircraft program.
Northrop Grumman announced on social media on May 18, 2026 that it had completed autonomous taxi testing of the YFQ-48A Talon Blue unmanned aerial vehicle. The YFQ-48 is the company’s promotional vehicle for the U.S. Air Force’s Cooperative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
Along with the announcement, Northrop Grumman also released a short video showing the aircraft moving on the runway and a pickup truck that appears to be carrying safety observers. The company says that after this milestone, the aircraft is now accelerating towards its first flight.
Autonomous taxi test completed.
YFQ-48A Talon Blue accelerates progress toward first flight in collaboration with: @usairforce. pic.twitter.com/8N5czGkMun
— Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) May 18, 2026
No details were provided about when and where the test was conducted. According to previous reports, the aircraft has been ground testing for at least a month. flights globalIt was probably at the Mojave Aerospace Port where it was first unveiled.
YFQ-48A
Northrop Grumman first unveiled its new unmanned platform at Mojave Air and Space Port on December 3, 2025, after developing it largely in secret. On December 22, the U.S. Air Force announced that it had assigned the Mission Design Series (MDS) YFQ-48A, originally known only as Project Talon, to the aircraft.
— Task Force 23 (@Task_Force23) May 18, 2026
As previously explained, this MDS defines semi-autonomous aircraft as unmanned fighter aircraft. In practice, YFQ refers to a prototype (indicated by the ‘Y’ status prefix) of a UAV (indicated by the ‘Q’ vehicle type code) with a fighter-role role (indicated by the ‘F’ primary mission).
The Air Force said at the time that the designation “highlights the ongoing partnership between the Air Force and Northrop Grumman and recognizes the continued development of the YFQ-48A as a strong contender for the CCA program.” The Air Force is currently preparing design selections for Increment 2 of the program, with the YFQ-48A being one possible contender.
— Task Force 23 (@Task_Force23) April 24, 2026
The YFQ-48A joins two other CCAs, the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, which received the same unmanned fighter prototype designation in March 2025. These two aircraft, currently in flight testing, are part of CCA Program Increment 1.
Northrop Grumman initially defined the YFQ-48A as a new autonomous aircraft demonstrator built to validate faster, cheaper manufacturing methods for large unmanned platforms. The company also described the program as a response to lessons learned from the U.S. Air Force’s failed bid for Cooperative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Increment 1.
Talon aimed to find the right balance between performance and cost, said Tom Jones, president of Northrop’s Airborne Systems division, which resulted in a more affordable and better-performing design. The aircraft featured a shovel-shaped nose, long, slender fuselage, low-aspect-ratio lambda wing planes, top-mounted engine air intakes and exhausts, and raked twin tails.
The design appears to be optimized for high performance and agility, but also features some hard-to-observe characteristics. Regarding the powerplant, Northrop Grumman only confirmed that the Talon uses a single turbofan engine, but did not reveal the manufacturer or thrust rating.
In April 2026, the company announced that Pratt & Whitney would provide the engines, specifically the PW500. To push the commercial limits of the PW500 engine family for Talon Blue, the engine manufacturer conducted an extensive engine test program to test simulated flight and operating conditions unique to CCA missions.
The engines are supplied with air through trapezoidal dorsal intakes mounted above the rear fuselage, with the exhaust located between the sloping tail surfaces. The nose section features test equipment typical of early flight test items, including three air data probes extending forward of the radome.
The company did not say whether the demonstrator was intended to carry stores internally. However, a large trapezoidal panel on the underside of the fuselage may represent an internal bay space.
