On Thursday, 4 December 2025, the American company Northrop Grumman unveiled the Talon unmanned combat aerial vehicle, designed as a so-called Loyal Wingman for manned aircraft, referred to in U.S. military nomenclature as a CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft), after the dedicated programs of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the U.S. Navy.
Photo: Northrop Grumman
According to the press release, the Talon project is an autonomous unmanned aircraft designed to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. As the newest addition to the company’s elite portfolio of autonomous aircraft, the Talon project represents a paradigm shift in air dominance as an adaptive, collaborative partner in combat missions.
The Talon project combines greater mission versatility with state-of-the-art, modular manufacturing techniques. This groundbreaking approach shortens timelines, emphasizing speed and simplicity. Talon expands collaboration between manned and unmanned aircraft, acting as a force multiplier by increasing striking power, adaptability, and mission effectiveness.
The Talon project pushes the boundaries of existing CCA aircraft technologies, giving customers in the United States and around the world the ability to project strength in dynamic threat environments.
Northrop Grumman has accumulated more than 500,000 hours of autonomous flight testing, the result of seven decades of experience in autonomy. With the unveiling on June 18 of the Beacon test platform, based on the semi-autonomous Model 437 Vanguard aircraft (developed under the Digital Pathfinder project), Northrop Grumman continues to demonstrate that it is advancing autonomy quickly and decisively.
The Talon project was designed, built, and made ready to fly in less than 24 months (work has lasted 15 months so far, and the first flight is expected in nine months), and the aforementioned Beacon test platform accelerated the Talon project by testing its avionics software in real-world conditions along with the Prism autonomy package. The work is split 50/50 between Northrop Grumman and its subsidiary Scaled Composites. Interestingly, the project previously carried the codename Lotus, reported publicly in October of this year.
Project Talon is here. This next-gen autonomous aircraft is made to adapt fast.
➡️ Modular by design
➡️ Mission-ready
➡️ Built for the challenges ahead pic.twitter.com/6UOhLSBHKn— Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) December 4, 2025
See also: