The Department of the Air Force officially named its newest Collaborative Combat Aircraft the FQ-42 Vengeance and FQ-44 Fury during Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink’s keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Sept. 14.
“Naming these aircraft is more than ceremonial, it connects the ingenuity and courage of our past with the cutting-edge capabilities our Airmen will command in future conflicts,” Meink said. “Fury and Vengeance represent the future of integrated combat capability, designed to operate in tandem with our aircraft… to hold any target at risk, anywhere, any time.”
Meink emphasized the service’s relentless focus on ensuring Airmen have necessary capabilities they will need for the future fight. The CCA program has delivered on that imperative, partnering with Air Combat Command’s Experimental Operations Unit to provide operational input into CCA development.
“The evolving strategic environment demands adaptive, affordable mass at scale,” Meink added. “CCA is in the hands of operators so they can help drive technical requirements and advance the platform at commercial speeds necessary to best support the Joint Force.”
The CCA program has embodied Department of War Acquisition Transformation initiatives to onboard the next generation of combat capability with speed.
“We cannot afford yesterday’s timelines for tomorrow’s threats,”
said Gen. Dale White, director, Critical Major Weapon Systems for the Department of War.
“CCA is an exemplar program that shattered traditional acquisition cycles by uniting operators, requirements owners, acquirers, and industry partners from day one. Doing so has cut through bureaucracy and moved this program from first flight to live munitions firing in just nine months — delivering lethal, adaptable combat mass to our warfighters years ahead of schedule.”
In June, the Air Force entered into production (Increment 1) for 150 Vengeance and Fury aircraft. The Air Force intends to have 500 combat-ready, semi-autonomous systems by 2032, with an overall fleet size of 1000 that will extend reach, awareness and survivability of American airpower in contested environments.
“The Air Force intends to purchase about 1,000 combat-ready, semi-autonomous systems that will extend reach, awareness, and survivability of American airpower in contested environments. Meink confirmed that the service would have 500 of the aircraft by 2032,”
the Air Force wrote on X.
The Air Force awarded Anduril and GA-ASI production contracts in June. Both drones underwent ground and initial flight testing last year, and each is now advancing to the initial production phase under the CCA’s Increment 1.
How the YFQ-42 and YFQ-44 Names Changed
Until this week, the aerial drones were known as the YFQ-42 and YFQ-44.
The FQ-42 is a member of GA-ASI’s “Gambit” family of unmanned combat aerial vehicles. During flight testing, it was named “Dark Merlin”—not after a mythical wizard—but after a type of falcon.
The FQ-44 was originally designed, developed, and named “Fury” by Blue Force Technologies. Anduril Industries opted to keep the drone’s name when it acquired Blue Force Technologies in 2023.
How Drone Designations Go from Y to F
“Y” stands for “prototype” under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system, and was meant to identify an initial, production-representative aircraft built in only limited numbers. Aircraft with a “Y” in the designation further means the aircraft is being used in testing and evaluation.
With manned aircraft, the US Air Force typically drops the “Y” prefix once the aircraft enters regular production, as was the case with the YF-22, which went on to become the F-22 Raptor.
How Original are the Names for the FQ-42 and FQ-44?
The United States Air Force has traditionally favored fierce animals, birds of prey, or even mythological creatures, so the “Dark Merlin” moniker for the FQ-42 could have been a good fit. The Pentagon has increasingly opted for names that seem more in line with its “warrior ethos”. Subtlety isn’t in the current wheelhouse, to say the least.
However, neither “Vengeance” nor “Fury” is actually an original choice; both have been used with past aircraft.
The A-31, an American-made single-engine dive bomber that was built for the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF), the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Royal Indian Air Force for service in the Pacific Theater, was dubbed “Vengeance”.
Several aircraft, notably the FJ-1, the United States Navy’s first operational jet fighter, were dubbed “Fury”. The name was used with the subsequent swept-wing variants—the FJ-2, FJ-3 and FJ-4—which were adapted from the F-86 Sabre for carrier operations. In addition, British aviation firm Hawker developed its Fury, an agile biplane interceptor, in 1931, and later used the name Sea Fury for its World War II-era piston-engine fighter.
Sources: U.S. Air Force; The National Interest