Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue completed its first fully autonomous flight. The flight covered taxi, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers and landing. Talon Blue uses modular design and advanced manufacturing to cut cost and speed production. It keeps mission capability unchanged. The flight draws on over 500,000 autonomous flight hours and seven decades of autonomy work. Talon Blue is part of the internally funded Project Talon portfolio. The portfolio also includes Talon IQ, an autonomous testbed on the Scaled Composites Model 437. Talon Blue’s design supports varied mission needs for U.S. and allied partners. Northrop Grumman says every flight informs future autonomous systems.

• 500,000 autonomous flight hours
• 7 decades of autonomy experience