今天，我们来自加利福尼亚州莫哈韦地区，带来了关于这款快速发展的“协同作战飞机”（Collaborative Combat Aircraft）的最新消息：诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司（Northrop Grumman）研制的“Talon Blue”战机终于首次完成了飞行测试。该战机的正式代号为 YFQ-48A。关于“Talon Blue”的存在，最早是在 2025 年 12 月于莫哈韦举行的一场媒体发布会上被正式公开的。
We have a significant update on the fast-moving world of Collaborative Combat Aircraft out of Mojave, California today. Northrop Grumman’s Talon Blue, which now has the official designation YFQ-48A, has taken to the skies for the first time. The existence of Talon Blue was first officially disclosed in December of 2025 at a media event in Mojave we were in attendance for.
这架无人驾驶战机在莫哈韦航空航天港（Mojave Air and Space Port）上空进行了飞行测试；该基地隶属于诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司的子公司——Scaled Composites，该公司以研发尖端航空技术而闻名。诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司发布的声明中表示：虽然“Talon Blue”战机本身吸引了最多的关注，但该公司同样非常重视其背后的自主控制系统（即飞机的自动化控制技术）的开发。该公司专门为此研发了 Model 437 示范机，该机型目前被命名为“Talon IQ”（此前称为“Beacon”）。
The uncrewed aircraft took to the skies over Mojave Air and Space Port, home of famed ‘bleeding edge’ airframer and Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites, which built the aircraft. A release from Northrop Grumman reads: While the Talon Blue aircraft draws most of the attention, Northrop Grumman has put great emphasis on its backend autonomy development ecosystem, which includes its purpose-built Model 437 demonstrator aircraft now under the Talon IQ badge (formerly Beacon).
“Talon Blue”战机属于协同作战飞机（CCA, Collaborative Combat Aircraft）这一快速发展的技术领域，该领域的竞争异常激烈。这款战机的主要用途是为美国空军（USAF）提供新一代协同作战飞机——即所谓的“Increment 2”项目中的数百架战机。不过，美国空军对于这些战机的具体技术要求尚未明确。目前，美国空军已经将之前从 Anduril 公司采购的 YFQ-44 战机以及从 General Atomics 公司采购的 YFQ-42 战机投入生产阶段；这两款战机都正处于飞行测试阶段。
Talon Blue is entering a growing field of CCA offerings, with competition extremely intense, primarily aimed at equipping the USAF with its next CCA acquisition of hundreds of aircraft known as Increment 2, for which the requirements remain undefined. Currently the USAF has moved its YFQ-44 from Anduril and its YFQ-42 from General Atomics, both of which are deep in flight testing, into production.
波音公司的 MQ-28 Ghost Bat 也是该领域的重要竞争者，或许是目前技术最为成熟的机型；洛克希德·马丁公司（Lockheed Martin）则推出了无尾设计的 Vectis 战机；而 Kratos 公司的 FQ-58 Valkyrie 战机也在持续改进中，并不断积累飞行时间。未来还有更多新型协同作战飞机即将问世，其中包括来自新兴制造商以及海外公司的产品。
Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat is another serious CCA contender and perhaps the most mature of all, while Lockheed Martin has its tailless Vectis, and on the lower end, Kratos’ FQ-58 Valkyrie continues to evolve and rack-up flight hours. Many more types are on the horizon, including those from new players and globally from foreign manufactures.
随着 F/A-XX 这一下一代海军战斗机项目的合同被授予波音公司，诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司从美国军方手中赢得“Talon Blue”项目的合同就显得尤为重要了。如果能够成功中标，该公司将重新进入美国五角大楼的战术空中作战系统采购名单。正如我们多年来一直讨论的那样，先进的无人驾驶战术系统相比传统的战斗机项目风险更低，且潜在利润更高——因为未来的空中作战将越来越多地依赖无人驾驶技术，并且这些系统将实现大规模生产。
With the loss of the F/A-XX next generation naval fighter program to Boeing, Northrop Grumman winning some contract from the U.S. services for Talon Blue has become more important. Doing so would get the company back into the Pentagon’s tactical air combat portfolio. As we have discussed for years, advanced uncrewed tactical systems are set to be less risky and potentially more lucrative than traditional fighter programs as air combat rotates to predominantly uncrewed capabilities and mass production of them.
除了美国市场的需求外，未来几年全球对无人驾驶作战系统的需求预计也会急剧增长。因此，如果五角大楼选择其他发展方向，“Talon Blue”项目在其他国家也可能取得成功；不过，获得美国军方的首肯以及随之而来的大规模生产订单无疑会对项目的成功起到关键作用。
Beyond U.S. needs, the demand for CCAs is likely to explode internationally in the coming years, so programs like Talon Blue could find success elsewhere if the Pentagon goes another direction, but getting the U.S. armed services’ stamp of approval’ and the scale of production that comes with it would surely help there too.
（注：翻译中保留了原文的正式语气和专业术语，同时确保了中文表达的流畅性。）
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