Paris Air Show 2025: GA-ASI YFQ-42A model provides new clues to capabilities

At the Paris Air Show 2025, General Atomics – Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) unveiled a 1:1 scale model of their YFQ-42A (also known as ‘Gambit 2’) design. This is a single-engined unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the air superiority mission being pitched for the US Air Force (USAF) programme known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), where it is competing against the Anduril YFQ-44A design (also known as ‘Fury’). Very few hard details regarding either design have been unveiled thus far, other than a vague, representative range figure of “700+ NM” (>1,264 km) shared by the USAF in May 2025.

In Paris, GA-ASI representatives remained tight-lipped regarding concrete technical specifications or features of the YFQ-42A, however the model displayed was relatively high-fidelity, providing clues as to some of the features currently under wraps. These are explored below, though readers should note that almost no technical details have been confirmed so far, and so the following is a largely speculative assessment centred around a select few features.

Examining the YFQ-42A

General observations – To begin with, those who have been following GA-ASI developments will see similarities between YFQ-42A and the previously-shown YFQ-67. According to GA-ASI, the two have around 80% parts commonality; but having said that, there are notable external differences. For starters, the YFQ-42A appears to be longer, with a distinct bulge around the nose section, and the wings appear greater in both span and chord, along with what looks to be a more aggressive backward sweep angle. Likewise, both use a V-tail, but the YFQ-42A’s tails are more conventionally rhomboid in shape.

Yet perhaps what is most notable when seeing the YFQ-42A model up close are the number of low observability (LO) features and details built in to the airframe, from general shape and angling of flight surfaces, to use of sawtooth-shaped and blended structures, along with various others discussed separately below. This would indeed appear to be quite seriously geared toward LO, more so than many expected. Further helping this is the craft’s size. While hardly small by UAV standards, the craft is nonetheless significantly smaller compared to conventional manned fighters, in part because it does not require many of the features they do (most obviously a cockpit), all of which means that the designers are starting with a lower radar cross section (RCS) burden from the outset. As such, the expectation is that this will be a fairly stealthy aircraft. With that in mind, certain select features will be examined in more detail.

Intake – The roof-mounted air intake features an unusual structure recessed within the intake, which through its positioning would seem to be some kind of boundary layer diversion structure, such as an unusual type of splitter plate. If this is the case, it would suggest the YFQ-42A would be capable of operating at transonic or supersonic speeds. This would certainly make a lot of sense given the CCA’s envisioned air superiority role, working alongside the supercruise-capable F-35 and eventually the F-47. The other contributing factor here is that YFQ-42A is widely understood to be geared primarily toward operations in the Pacific theatre, to secure air superiority in the face of China’s anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) network. In this theatre, the transit distances can be vast and the ability to cross them quickly would be advantageous.

Roof doors behind intake – A notable feature seen on GA-ASI’s model was a set of doors set into the roof behind the intake. These would appear to be F-35-style refuelling doors covering a receptacle for air-to-air refuelling (AAR). This is likely for a boom-type refuelling system given both the roof position and because this is what the USAF predominantly uses. An AAR capability would also make sense given the aforementioned expectation of its use in the vast Pacific theatre. As an additional point, if the refuelling receptacle is mounted here, it would strongly suggest that the intake uses an S-shaped duct, which would serve to further reduce RCS.

Fairings on the wings and tail – These look to be fairings for covering the aileron or rudder actuation mechanisms, an RCS reduction technique seen on many low-observable aircraft including the Lockheed Martin F-22, Sukhoi Su-57, the Chengdu J-20, Shenyang J-35, KAI KF-21, and TAI Kaan.

Internal weapon bay – While this feature was already expected, based on previously-released CG imagery of YFQ-42A, the model provided a better sense of the dimensions available, which looked to be around 4 m long, and about 0.8 m wide. This should be enough to accommodate two air-to-air missiles (AAMs) roughly the size of an AIM-120 AMRAAM side by side. While other armaments could be possible, production figures matter for CCA. RTX stated in 2024 that AMRAAM family production figures was scheduled set to reach 1,160 missiles per year by the end of 2024, making it one of the most-produced missile families in the world. Given CCA is intended to be procured at scale, with the USAF planning assumption currently at 1,000 units, it would stand to reason that a plentiful munition would be chosen to furnish it. In terms of which version might be chosen, the only AIM-120 variants currently manufactured are the C-8 and the D-3. Of these two, the D-3 variant in particular seems a logical choice due to being equipped with GPS navigation and a two-way datalink, permitting more employment modes, which would be advantageous for the air superiority mission.

Nose structure – The size suggests that there should be space to mount a reasonably-sized radar, and again this would be an expected feature for the air superiority mission. Yet what was also interesting was the inclusion of a small structure on the underside of the nose. Judging by the shape, this could be an indication that an infrared (IR) sensor would be mounted here, and given the air superiority mission, would presumably be for detection of aerial threats. Having said that, a more prosaic explanation is also possible. With display models, manufacturers sometimes introduce intentional deviations from their real designs to mask certain features. Good reasons to do so in this case could be to hide the true size of the presumed radar, or make it more difficult to predict the craft’s RCS through computer modelling.

First flight expected soon

Regarding the first flight, GA-ASI President David R. Alexander said in a company press release: “Ground tests are underway, and we look forward to first flight in the coming weeks.” C. Mark Brinkley, Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Marketing at GA-ASI, emphasised that this was the most prepared for a flight test the company had ever been.

Brinkley also underlined that CCA operations are something very new worldwide, and there is still much work to be done in terms of both developing and refining concepts of operations (CONOPS). He said: “The Air Force just stood up two weeks ago, the experimental operations unit to take the aircraft and begin to train [with] them,” adding, “We’ve been flying fighter jets for a long time. We have not been flying them this way. We have not been flying them with computerised autonomy, and we have not been training human pilots to fly alongside these and training human pilots to control these. So there’s a lot of tactics and concepts of operations that I think it’s one thing for us to stand and talk about it as a big picture concept. It’s another thing to say, ‘hey, go out and fly this thing and be successful with it’. So there’s a lot of that work still to be done, but the Air Force is doing a lot of those situations in parallel.”

With the first flight coming so soon, and the USAF beginning its experiments, it will be very interesting to see what new possibilities emerge from this new form of aerial combat.

Mark Cazalet