АНУ-ын батлан хамгаалахын салбарт шинээр хөгжүүлж буй хамтын ажиллагааны байлдааны нисгэгчгүй онгоцны төсөл болох Talon Blue бие даасан нислэгийн туршилтаа эхлүүлэв.
Northrop Grumman компанийн бүтээсэн YFQ-48A Talon Blue нисгэгчгүй онгоц Калифорни муж улсын Мохаве дахь нисэх буудал дээр анхны бүрэн бие даасан нислэгээ хийлээ. Туршилтын явцад онгоцны хөөрөлт, газардлага, агаарын маневр болон талбайн хөдөлгөөнийг бүрэн автоматаар гүйцэтгэсэн байна. Энэхүү систем нь модульчлагдсан бүтэц, дэвшилтэт үйлдвэрлэлийн аргыг ашигласнаар зардал бууруулж, үйлдвэрлэлийн хурдыг нэмэгдүүлэх зорилготой юм.
Talon Blue нь Northrop Grumman-ы “Project Talon” багцын хүрээнд хөгжүүлэгдэж буй систем бөгөөд өндөр агаарын оролт, өргөн тэнхлэг болон зэвсэг тээвэрлэх дотоод тасалгаагаар тоноглогдсон. Компанийн зүгээс энэхүү нисгэгчгүй онгоцыг АНУ болон түүний холбоотнуудын олон төрлийн даалгаврыг гүйцэтгэхэд зориулан бүтээсэн гэж мэдэгдлээ. Төслийн удирдлагын зүгээс уг туршилт нь дараа үеийн бие даасан чадавхыг хөгжүүлэх чухал алхам болсныг онцлов.
Одоогоор АНУ-ын Агаарын цэргийн хүчин хамтын ажиллагааны байлдааны нисгэгчгүй онгоцны (CCA) зах зээлд өргөн хүрээтэй өрсөлдөөнийг өрнүүлж байна. Anduril компанийн YFQ-44, General Atomics-ийн YFQ-42 загварууд үйлдвэрлэлийн шатанд шилжээд байгаа бол Boeing-ийн MQ-28 Ghost Bat, Lockheed Martin-ийн Vectis болон Kratos-ийн FQ-58 Valkyrie зэрэг системүүд энэ салбарт гол өрсөлдөгчөөр нэрлэгдэж байна. Northrop Grumman-ийн хувьд Talon Blue нь Пентагоны тактикийн агаарын байлдааны хөтөлбөрт эргэн орох гол хөзөр болох төлөвтэй байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
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We have a significant update on the fast-moving world of Collaborative Combat Aircraft out of Mojave, California today. Northrop Grumman’s Talon Blue, which now has the official designation YFQ-48A, has taken to the skies for the first time. The existence of Talon Blue was first officially disclosed in December of 2025 at a media event in Mojave we were in attendance for.
The uncrewed aircraft took to the skies over Mojave Air and Space Port, home of famed ‘bleeding edge’ airframer and Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites, which built the aircraft. A release from Northrop Grumman reads:
“MOJAVE, Calif. – Oct. 3, 2026 – Northrop Grumman’s (NYSE: NOC)YFQ-48A Talon Bluecompleted its first fully autonomous flight, including taxi, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers, and landing. Developed through company investment, Talon Blue combines modular design and advanced manufacturing to lower cost and support faster production without compromising mission capability. The flight builds on Northrop Grumman’s seven decades of autonomy experience and more than 500,000 autonomous flight hours, with lessons from Talon Blue informing future autonomous systems.
Details on YFQ-48A Talon Blue:
- Talon Blue is part of Northrop Grumman’s internally-fundedProject Talon portfoliofocused on accelerating the development of mission-ready autonomous airpower capabilities.
- Manufacturing and design innovations cut part count and overall weight, lowering cost and enabling faster production to meet growing demand for autonomous systems.
- Designed with flexible operational concepts in mind, Talon Blue’s high air intake, wide wheelbase and integrated weapons bay support a wide variety of mission needs for U.S. and allied partners.
Craig Woolston, vice president and general manager, research and advanced design, Northrop Grumman: “Our customers made it clear they need autonomous systems that can be fielded faster and more affordably without sacrificing mission effectiveness. We listened. Talon Blue’s first flight is one step toward a new generation of autonomous capabilities. Every flight and lesson strengthens our broader autonomy work and sharpens what comes next.”
While the Talon Blue aircraft draws most of the attention, Northrop Grumman has put great emphasis on its backend autonomy development ecosystem, which includes its purpose-built Model 437 demonstrator aircraft now under the Talon IQ badge (formerly Beacon).
Talon Blue is entering a growing field of CCA offerings, with competition extremely intense, primarily aimed at equipping the USAF with its next CCA acquisition of hundreds of aircraft known as Increment 2, for which the requirements remain undefined. Currently the USAF has moved its YFQ-44 from Anduril and its YFQ-42 from General Atomics, both of which are deep in flight testing, into production. Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat is another serious CCA contender and perhaps the most mature of all, while Lockheed Martin has its tailless Vectis, and on the lower end, Kratos’ FQ-58 Valkyrie continues to evolve and rack-up flight hours. Many more types are on the horizon, including those from new players and globally from foreign manufactures.
With the loss of the F/A-XX next generation naval fighter program to Boeing, Northrop Grumman winning some contract from the U.S. services for Talon Blue has become more important. Doing so would get the company back into the Pentagon’s tactical air combat portfolio. As we have discussed for years, advanced uncrewed tactical systems are set to be less risky and potentially more lucrative than traditional fighter programs as air combat rotates to predominantly uncrewed capabilities and mass production of them. Beyond U.S. needs, the demand for CCAs is likely to explode internationally in the coming years, so programs like Talon Blue could find success elsewhere if the Pentagon goes another direction, but getting the U.S. armed services’ stamp of approval’ and the scale of production that comes with it would surely help there too.
Author’s note: A big thanks to our friend @Task_Force23 for providing us with great photos for this story.
Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com
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