Air Force shields CCA drone wingman program from effects of government shutdown

WASHINGTON — The Air Force is shielding its nascent drone wingman program from effects of the ongoing government shutdown to ensure the effort can proceed apace, a service official revealed today.

“There are currently no impacts to the Department of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program as a result of the government shutdown,” the official told Breaking Defense in a statement. “Personnel supporting critical test and development activities were identified as excepted and returned from furlough to ensure continuity of operations and avoid any potential delay. The program remains ahead of schedule, and flight testing is proceeding as planned.”

The statement came days after Palmer Luckey, the founder of defense tech firm Anduril, told reporters that the shutdown would “certainly” delay the first flight of the company’s YFQ-44A drone, one of two prototypes under contract for the CCA effort.

Luckey backtracked on those comments in a statement today. 

“Last week I said that the shutdown has already delayed the first flight for our Collaborative Combat Aircraft. What I meant to say is that if the shutdown continues, there could be impacts to our schedule, but we haven’t actually seen that yet,” Luckey said. 

Anduril’s drone was originally expected to fly this summer, but Air Force Secretary Troy Meink recently predicted its maiden flight would take place around the middle of this month. The Air Force did not confirm if that specific timeline is still intact. General Atomics’ YFQ-42A prototype drone bid took flight in August.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc’s CCA on display at AFA 2024. (Valerie Insinna/Breaking Defense)

Ahead of the Oct. 1 shutdown that has paralyzed government services across the country, the Defense Department identified several of the Trump administration’s “highest priorities” to protect from the shutdown’s effects, including operations at the US Southern border, the Golden Dome missile defense program and other activities.

The Pentagon said active duty military would continue to report to work, while a “minimum number of civilian employees necessary” were spared from furlough to carry out activities excepted from the shutdown. It’s not clear what other programs the Air Force has moved to safeguard.

Anduril and General Atomics are currently facing off under the first round of the CCA program, where the companies’ drone designs will fly with autonomy software provided by Shield AI and RTX, respectively, as Breaking Defense previously reported.

Service officials maintain they can carry multiple contractors, including new entrants, into production for the first round, while awards for conceptual contracts for the CCA program’s second round are expected within months.