Northrop Grumman's YFQ-48 Talon Blue completes first flight

Northrop Grumman has announced the first flight of the YFQ-48 Talon Blue, its internally funded Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The flight was fully autonomous and included taxi, takeoff, in-flight manoeuvres and landing.

The aircraft flew from Mojave Air and Space Port, where the company's subsidiary Scaled Composites, which developed and built it, is based. The YFQ-48 was unveiled at the site in December 2025 after being developed largely in secrecy, following taxi tests a few months earlier.

Craig Woolston, vice president and general manager for research and advanced design at Northrop Grumman, said customers had made clear they need autonomous systems that can be fielded faster and more affordably without losing mission effectiveness. He described the first flight as one step toward a new generation of autonomous capabilities, adding that each flight and lesson strengthens the company's broader autonomy work.

The company did not release further details about the sortie. It said the Talon Blue forms part of the internally funded Project Talon portfolio, which is aimed at speeding up development of mission-ready autonomous airpower. That portfolio also includes Talon IQ, previously known as Beacon, which is based on Scaled Composites' Model 437 Vanguard.