ND.BUILDS // NOTES
· By Frank Milz
CCA autonomy race: Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins stay in the fight
After June's drone wingmen awards, the software fight for Collaborative Combat Aircraft autonomy kept heating up.
After the Air Force moved Anduril and General Atomics CCA airframes into production, the next decisive contest was software. Anduril, Shield AI, and RTX Collins advanced into head-to-head work on mission autonomy, with a primary provider decision targeted for summer 2027.
Hardware without a trusted autonomy stack is a sculpture. Software without production airframes is a demo. The Air Force is forcing both to mature on a clock.
## Why founders should watch This is the template for modern weapons procurement: compete airframes, compete autonomy, keep options open, and refuse forever lock-in on day one.
If you sell autonomy, schedule and cost credibility matter as much as model benchmarks. If you buy autonomy, demand swap rights when the primary stack stalls.