In a clear sign of deepening US-UK defense-industrial cooperation, the British Royal Navy is preparing to place an American-made Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) on a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier.
First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, head of Britain’s Royal Navy, said on November 10, 2026, that Northrop Grumman’s Talon Blue CCA will be launched from the deck of one of its two Queen Elizabeth (QE) class aircraft carriers in 2027.
Speaking at the International Sea Power Conference (ISPC) in Oslo, Norway, Jenkins confirmed that the CCA will be tested aboard HMS Prince of Wales
“In two days’ time [on 12 November 2026], on this carrier, I will sign a statement of intent with … Northrop Grumman to prepare their Talon demonstrator for trials with the Royal Navy under Project Vanquish,” Gen Jenkins stated. “Through that agreement, we will work towards a demonstration in UK waters in 2027, including a launch from the carrier.”
The Talon trials will provide the service with the evidence it needs to assess how unmanned combat aircraft may function safely and efficiently alongside the current air wing, as mentioned in the First Sea Lord’s keynote address.
“Then we learn, adapt, and keep moving forward,” the service chief said aboard HMS Prince of Wales. “That is how we deliver capability at the pace necessary. Not by waiting years for a perfect solution, but by working with industry to get the latest technology into the hands of our people as quickly as possible. Of course, moving at pace carries some risk.”
The upcoming test is in line with the Royal Navy’s “Project Vanquish,” which was announced in 2025, and is being developed jointly with the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
The project is intended to assess whether a jet-powered, short take-off and landing Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) can work alongside the existing air wing of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, which comprises manned aircraft.
This program is meant to support the wider Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) program and the Hybrid Air Wing concept, under which the Fleet Air Arm is intended to become primarily unmanned by 2040.
Notably, the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are configured solely for ski-jump-assisted short take-off and vertical or short landing. These carriers lack catapults and conventional arresting wires, having been designed primarily around the F-35B STOVL fighter and helicopters. Therefore, any jet-powered fixed-wing aircraft would be required to manage short take-off and recovery under those constraints.
Project Vanquish aims to demonstrate that it is possible to launch and recover what UK authorities call a Tier 2 ACP from a carrier without arresting equipment or a catapult. For the Royal Navy, the Tier 2 ACP requirement refers to “attritable” unmanned, jet-powered drones that can perform complex tasks but are affordable enough to use in higher-risk combat scenarios.
Talon Blue is a company-funded Collaborative Combat Aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman. Unveiled in late 2025 after largely secret development, it received the US Air Force (USAF) Mission Design Series designation YFQ-48A in December 2025. In fact, the announcement made by Jenkins comes over a month after YFQ-48A Talon Blue completed its first fully autonomous flight, including taxi, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers, and landing, in Mojave, California, on October 3, 2026.
The design features a long, slender fuselage, swept lambda-style wings, canted twin tails, a dorsal air inlet and a wide-track undercarriage. According to the manufacturer, it is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney PW500-family commercial turbofan that has undergone extensive testing to expand its operating envelope for CCA missions.
As a CCA, Talon Blue has been designed to operate as a loyal wingman in a manned-unmanned teaming (MUMT) configuration alongside crewed fighters, extending sensor and weapons reach while reducing risk to pilots. Northrop Grumman has said the drone was developed based on lessons from its failed bid in the USAF’s CCA Increment 1 program. The drone has now been positioned as a contender for the CCA Increment 2 program.
Interestingly, the Talon Blue’s launch from the UK’s Elizabeth-class carrier could even precede the USAF’s final Increment 2 CCA selection.
American Jet-Powered CCA Aboard British Carrier
In recent years, the Royal Navy has proven it can launch and recover a variety of propeller-driven drones from the decks of its Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, including the General Atomics Mojave drone launched from HMS Prince of Wales in November 2023. Similarly, Nyan one-way attack drones launched from HMS Queen Elizabeth’s deck and Tekever’s AR5 platform landed aboard the carrier earlier this month.
However, the Talon Blue could become the next American-designed jet aircraft to demonstrate operations from a British aircraft carrier after the F-35B Lightning II, which forms the core of the carrier’s manned operations. The F-35B Lightning II established the modern fixed-wing baseline for the Queen Elizabeth class.
The first F-35B landings and takeoffs aboard the carrier occurred in 2018 off the US East Coast.
It is pertinent to note that the Talon Blue is not publicly confirmed as carrier-configured, at least as of now, but it is currently being prepared for that role. The Talon’s conventional undercarriage may require adaptation for sustained carrier operations, among other things.
The British carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, have an unusual configuration. They support only ski-jump-assisted short take-off, lack a catapult launch system, and lack conventional arresting wires. They are designed primarily for F-35B short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft and helicopters.
The Talon Blue, by contrast, is a conventional jet-powered aircraft with conventional landing gear.
However, the Royal Navy’s selection of the Talon Blue for this demonstration suggests an intention to adapt the existing aircraft rather than redesign the carriers. If the 2027 trials succeed, Talon Blue will sit in the historical sequence as the next significant US combat aircraft type to operate from the Queen Elizabeth class after the F-35B — shifting the relationship from crewed fifth-generation fighters to autonomous collaborative systems.
Royal Navy Chief Jenkins has been consistent about the need to accelerate testing of autonomous aircraft from carrier decks. Last year, he publicly set the ambition of launching the first jet-powered CCA from a carrier flight deck by the following year.
Britain is also currently developing a carrier-capable Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) specifically for its Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. However, the decision to partner with Northrop Grumman rather than wait for a British design reflects both urgency, particularly because Jenkins has repeatedly stressed that the risk of not being ready outweighs the risk of adopting available technology.
Furthermore, it also reinforces the broader US-UK defense relationship. It will allow American industry to gain real-world data on operating a CCA from a non-catapult carrier, while the Royal Navy can gain early insight into jet-powered uncrewed operations that will inform both national programs and potential future procurements.
That said, the success of the imminent testing would not automatically translate into an order for the Talon Blue, but it is crucial because the data will shape the requirements for the aircraft that ultimately fills the STOL ACP role in the futuristic Hybrid Air Wing.
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