GENERAL ATOMIC Dark Merlin, YFQ-42: the sixth-generation autonomous fighter General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) announced on Monday (23) the official name of the new unmanned fighter developed for the United States Air Force (USAF): Dark Merlin. Designated YFQ-42, the drone represents one of the main vectors of the future of American combat aviation and should operate in conjunction with the next-generation F-47 fighter. The Dark Merlin is one of two Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) models selected by the USAF for testing and development as part of the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) program's family of systems, an initiative that foresees the integration of stealthy unmanned aircraft into a sixth-generation fighter, with the F-47 as the central platform. The other chosen project is the YFQ-44A, developed by Anduril Industries, known as Fury. According to GA-ASI, the name Dark Merlin was inspired by dark merlins, falcons native to the Pacific Northwest in the Un...
