GA-ASI partners with Spirit Defense on FQ-42

Spirit Defense has been selected as fuselage design-build partner for the FQ-42 Vengeance, adding manufacturing capacity as the US Air Force ramps up CCA production.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has partnered with Spirit Defense to support airframe production of the FQ-42 Vengeance Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). GA-ASI won the US Air Force (USAF) contract to produce FQ-42 in June.

Spirit Defense will act as fuselage design-build partner, bringing its engineering and advanced manufacturing capabilities to the programme from design through production.

GA-ASI has been the sole manufacturer of its line of uncrewed aircraft systems, which includes MQ-9A Reaper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-20 Avenger and MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian, since the company’s inception in 1992. For the FQ-42 programme, the partnership offers manufacturing capacity and industrial depth to scale CCA production faster, while strengthening production resilience and reducing the risk of single points of failure.

David R. Alexander, president of GA-ASI, says: “With Spirit Defense we add capacity, which is exactly the kind of production resilience our U.S. Air Force customer is looking for with its CCA ramp-up.”

Keith Schrader, president and CEO of Spirit Defense, adds: “We’re proud to bring deep manufacturing expertise and proven capabilities to this important programme.”

FQ-42 is a purpose-built uncrewed fighter, developed with USAF as part of ongoing investment in next-generation semi-autonomous combat aircraft. The jet’s modular design enables rapid integration of mission systems and mission autonomy software. GA-ASI’s software architecture, demonstrated through live flight tests on multiple airframes, provides the foundation for human-machine teaming in complex combat scenarios.

GA-ASI is also in discussions with numerous international militaries interested in its Gambit Series of modular CCAs. The Gambit Series is a family of uncrewed combat jets derived from work on FQ-42, the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station and MQ-20 Avenger, and optimised for roles such as electronic warfare, suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD), destruction of enemy air defences (DEAD) and stand-off precision strike. Nations procuring Gambit Series aircraft have the opportunity to insert indigenous manufacturing into those programmes, as well as integrate their own sensors, weapons and other combat technologies.