US Air Force names its two Collaborative Combat Aircraft Vengeance and Fury
The Air Force has given official names to its two Increment 1 Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the FQ-42 and FQ-44, and confirmed a target of 500 airframes by 2032.
The U.S. Air Force has assigned official names to its two Collaborative Combat Aircraft, with the FQ-42 to be called "Vengeance" and the FQ-44 to be called "Fury." Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced the names during a keynote address at the Air & Space Forces Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Sept. 14, 2026.
The name for the FQ-44 matches one already used internally by Anduril. For the FQ-42, the service replaced "Dark Merlin," the name chosen by manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. The Air Force said announcing the popular names was a natural next step for the CCA program as it modernises its aerial combat fleet.
Meink also said the service would have 500 CCAs by 2032, part of the 1,000 planned by the end of the decade. According to the service, the semi-autonomous aircraft are intended to extend the reach, awareness and survivability of American airpower in contested environments.
The naming follows production contracts awarded earlier this summer under the CCA Increment 1 program. Those awards covered engineering, manufacturing and development and production for the FQ-42 and FQ-44, along with mission autonomy production contracts.
Sources
- theaviationist.comU.S. Air Force Names CCAs as FQ-42 “Vengeance” and FQ-44 “Fury”