USAF Fighters PAE: CCA downselection will choose up to six vendors

A YFQ-44A takes off from the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California., during a Collaborative Combat Aircraft exercise. (US Air Force/Ariana Ortega)

The US Air Force (USAF) is planning on downselecting to up to six vendors for Increment 2 of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme, Colonel Timothy Helfrich, program acquisition executive for fighters and advanced aircraft said.

Helfrich, addressing reporters at the 2026 Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Life Cycle Industry Days (LCID) in Dayton, Ohio, said the remaining 10 months of the concept refinement contract would be dedicated to refining attributes “as well as several closed conceptual designs”.

He told reporters during a media roundtable, “We will continue to maximize competition through all the phases of CCA Increment 2. We may have entrants that come in a later phase that were not part of concept refinement. But we have to maximize the learning as soon as we can”.

Helfrich said that companies not selected as part of the downselect will still receive support from the service in bringing their platforms to bear, with the plan to open the competition back up beyond the concept refinement phase.

“We made a commitment to the vendors that were not selected, that if they were to invest on their own, we would help them with things like range space, getting through some approvals, so that they could be competitive for the EMD and production,” he said.

Helfrich reflected on developments in Increment 1 testing by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) and Anduril Industries for CCA, telling Janes that each company's aircraft design is shaping how they are being tested.