Northrop Grumman's "Eagle Blue" unmanned fighter jet boarded a British aircraft carrier for 2027 test flight without relying on catapult arresting cables

The picture shows the Northrop Grumman YFQ-48A "Eagle Claw Blue" drone. (Picture taken from X@Task_Force23)

[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] The British Royal Navy is accelerating its carrier-based unmanned combat aircraft program and is expected to test-launch the Northrop... The "Talon Blue" collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) developed by Northrop Grumman. This jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft, numbered YFQ-48A by the US military, was announced to have completed its first flight last month. If it successfully takes off and lands from a British aircraft carrier in the future, it will be an important step forward for the Royal Navy in developing a new generation of ship-borne unmanned combat capabilities.

The military news website "The War Zone" reported that the British First Sea Lord Admiral Gwyn Jenkins recently announced on the "Prince of Wales" that he would sign a statement of intent to cooperate with Northrop Grumman to promote the testing of "Eagle Blue" under the "Project Vanquish" framework, with the goal of displaying it in British waters in 2027, including launching from an aircraft carrier.

It is worth noting that the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers currently in service in the UK are both short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) designs and do not have catapults and arresting cables. The core goal of "Project Conquest" is to enable what the UK calls a Level 2 Autonomous Collaboration Platform (ACP) to complete shipboard takeoff and recovery without relying on the above-mentioned equipment, thereby adding unmanned combat aircraft options to existing aircraft.

The report pointed out that the "Eagle Claw Blue" is a new drone developed by Northrop Grumman to meet the needs of low-cost autonomous operations. It was first made public in December 2025, and the US military has also assigned it the number YFQ-48A. Although the actual price has not yet been announced, its design complexity is roughly equivalent to that of the FQ-42A "Avenger" and FQ-44A "Fury" unmanned wingmen currently purchased by the U.S. Air Force. The unit price of the latter two is estimated to be in the lower range of more than 10 million US dollars to tens of millions of dollars.

Since 2023, the British Royal Navy has successively tested propeller drones such as Mojave and Tekever AR5 on the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft, and has also used trailer-mounted catapults to launch long-range one-way attack drones.

However, it remains to be confirmed whether "Eagle Claw Blue" can be directly adapted to aircraft operations. Due to the limitations of shipboard take-off and landing involving deck space, flight performance and recovery methods, even if catapults or arresting cables are not used, it may still be necessary to develop special ship-based variants in the future.

For Northrop Grumman, the British carrier test is also of great significance. The company is pursuing the U.S. Air Force’s Phase 2 CCA program and participating in the U.S. Navy’s shipborne CCA concept development. If "Eagle Claw Blue" successfully completes its 2027 display, it will help verify its shipboard application potential and expand the future international market.