Anduril’s YFQ-44A makes first flight as Air Force pushes toward operational combat drones
Anduril’s YFQ-44A flew for the first time on Oct. 31, giving the U.S. Air Force a new milestone in its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The prototype is one of two designs competing in CCA Increment 1, a fast-moving effort to field unmanned aircraft that can operate alongside crewed fighters before the end of the decade.
The Air Force said developmental testing is continuing at contractor and government sites, including Edwards Air Force Base. The next phase will focus on envelope expansion and integration work to support future experimentation and the transition from testing to fielding. The service’s Experimental Operations Unit at Nellis Air Force Base is expected to play a central role in evaluating how the aircraft would be used in real operations rather than in a narrow test setting.
Anduril said all taxi and flight tests to date have been semi-autonomous. The company also said it has already begun integrating weapons on the YFQ-44A and plans to conduct its first live weapons shot next year. It did not disclose details on mission systems, sensors or payload configuration, even as images from the first flight appeared to show a pod mounted under the aircraft. The company said it is building a new production model around the aircraft, using a common software backbone called ArsenalOS to speed manufacturing and scale output.
The YFQ-44A is competing against General Atomics’ YFQ-42A, which began flight testing in August. The Air Force is expected to select one design next year while also launching work on CCA Increment 2. Senior Air Force leaders have also signaled that CCAs may eventually be organized into dedicated squadrons instead of being embedded inside existing fighter units. That points to a broader shift. The aircraft are being treated less as experimental adjuncts and more as a distinct combat capability that could reshape force structure.
The implications extend well beyond this head-to-head competition. The Air Force wants CCA platforms to share targeting data with crewed fighters and potentially with KC-46A tankers, creating larger and more flexible combat formations at lower cost than buying more traditional fighters. Debate in Washington over lessons from Ukraine has added pressure to build drones faster, cheaper and at far greater scale, especially systems that can saturate enemy defenses or force costly responses. If YFQ-44A stays on schedule through weapons testing and further integration work, the program could become an early measure of how quickly the United States can turn autonomous air combat concepts into deployable capability.