Northrop Grumman flies self-funded YFQ-48A Talon Blue autonomous fighter

Northrop Grumman completed the first fully autonomous flight of its YFQ-48A Talon Blue, covering taxi, takeoff, in-flight manoeuvres and landing without human intervention. The internally funded jet is designed to fly alongside crewed F-35, F-22 and future F-47 fighters.

• Flight included autonomous taxi, takeoff, manoeuvres and landing with no remote control
• Program is self-funded by Northrop Grumman after exclusion from the USAF CCA competition
• Talon Blue pairs with the Talon IQ flying software testbed on a Scaled Composites airframe
• Company cites 500,000 autonomous flight hours and a modular, low-cost design