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Air Force

Northrop Grumman Eyes First Flight Of Project Talon Next Year

Frank Wolfe

Friday, December 5th, 2025

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Northrop Grumman Eyes First Flight Of Project Talon Next Year

Pictured is a Northrop Grumman photo of Project Talon.

Northrop Grumman [NOC] used its Beacon autonomous testbed, announced in June, to accelerate development of the Project Talon autonomous drone offering for the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Modified for optionally autonomous flight, Beacon is a Model 437 Vanguard aircraft by Northrop Grumman-owned Scaled Composites, founded by aircraft designer and entrepreneur Burt Rutan in Mojave, Calif., in 1982. "Built to fly alongside crewed fighters," Project Talon "represents a paradigm shift in air dominance as an adaptive, collaborative…

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