Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury: Fully Autonomous Combat Drone Chosen for USAF's Game-Changing CCA Program

Anduril’s YFQ-44A “Fury” is a fully autonomous combat drone designed to operate alongside manned fighter jets in the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, aiming to enhance airpower with scalable, affordable, and AI-driven unmanned systems ready for operational use by the end of the decade.

 The YFQ-44A “Fury,” developed by Anduril, is a next-generation unmanned combat aircraft being designed under the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, which is one of the most important and forward-looking initiatives in U.S. defense aviation today. This program represents a fundamental shift in how the United States plans to fight and win future wars—by combining highly capable crewed aircraft with advanced autonomous platforms that can act as force multipliers across a range of missions.

The CCA program is not about replacing human pilots, but about expanding the reach, survivability, and combat effectiveness of the U.S. Air Force by fielding drones that can work alongside manned fighters like the F-35, F-22, and future sixth-generation systems currently in development under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. These drones are expected to fly missions that are too dangerous, repetitive, or data-heavy for human pilots, including strike missions, electronic warfare, intelligence gathering, communications relay, and decoy operations. The goal is to use them as “loyal wingmen,” operating semi-independently but in close coordination with crewed aircraft.

Anduril’s Fury is one of two designs that the Air Force has selected for Increment 1 of the CCA program. The other is the YFQ-42A from General Atomics, which completed its first flight in August 2025 using a more traditional remote-control approach. Anduril, however, has taken a more ambitious path. Rather than simply flying the aircraft with a pilot on the ground using a joystick and screen, they have chosen to develop and validate a fully integrated autonomy system that will control the aircraft through taxiing, takeoff, flight, and landing—all from the very first flight.

This means that Fury, when it takes off for the first time, will do so without a pilot at the controls—no stick, no throttle, no joystick. Instead, a ground operator will input a command—effectively pressing a button—and the aircraft will execute its pre-programmed mission profile using onboard autonomous systems. This is not a theoretical or optional feature. It’s the core of how Anduril is approaching the development of Fury. They believe that tackling autonomy from the beginning is essential to fielding a capable, scalable combat drone within the Air Force’s aggressive timeline.

The U.S. Air Force has set a clear deadline: Increment 1 CCAs should be entering operational service before the end of this decade. That’s a fast turnaround for a brand-new aircraft type—especially one that’s unmanned and autonomous. Most military aircraft take years just to move from design to flight, and often even longer to reach operational readiness. Anduril believes that by focusing early on autonomy and skipping legacy approaches like remote piloting or incremental upgrades, they can move faster and field a more relevant system.

To achieve this, the company has built multiple YFQ-44A airframes that are already in advanced stages of ground testing. These are not just mockups or static prototypes—they are fully operational aircraft undergoing systems integration and hardware-software validation. All of these test units are expected to fly, meaning they are not simply “iron birds” or ground-only platforms. The software that will enable Fury’s first flight is being rigorously tested in simulated environments, hardware-in-the-loop systems, and full-scale test rigs to ensure that the aircraft can perform its mission safely and reliably.

This effort is backed by Anduril’s software-first approach to defense development. Unlike traditional aerospace contractors that start with hardware and bolt on software later, Anduril is building its systems from the software up. The company’s proprietary Lattice platform—a battle-proven, AI-enabled autonomy and command system—is being integrated into the YFQ-44A to provide real-time decision-making, navigation, and mission execution capabilities. This includes “platform autonomy” (handling the basic aircraft functions like flight control and takeoff/landing) as well as future integration of “mission autonomy” (the ability to react to threats, change flight paths, or coordinate with human pilots in the battlespace).

From a production and logistics perspective, Fury is designed with affordability, manufacturability, and modularity in mind. The Air Force has made clear that CCAs are meant to be attritable—meaning they can be risked or even lost in combat without unacceptable cost or strategic consequence. This requires a different industrial approach than legacy fighters, which often take decades to develop and cost hundreds of millions of dollars per airframe. Fury is intended to be built quickly, updated frequently, and deployed in numbers. Anduril’s production model reflects lessons learned from the tech industry, with an emphasis on rapid iteration, digital design, and integrated testing.

This approach also supports operational flexibility. In future conflicts, commanders won’t have weeks or months to plan missions. They’ll need to launch large numbers of aircraft with different roles—some jamming radars, others striking targets, others relaying data or drawing fire. By fielding a drone like Fury that can be adapted quickly via software updates and configured for multiple payloads or mission profiles, the Air Force gains a significant tactical advantage. Anduril’s strategy is to deliver a platform that can evolve continuously, rather than waiting for formal upgrade cycles.

On the policy and strategy side, programs like Fury demonstrate the U.S. military’s shift toward more distributed, survivable, and autonomous force structures. Rather than relying solely on a small number of high-end fighters and bombers, future air campaigns are expected to use large formations of uncrewed systems to overwhelm enemy defenses, collect targeting data, and engage in complex multi-domain operations. These aircraft will still operate under human command, but with greater independence and speed than older drones.

The Air Force has also stressed the importance of building trust between human pilots and their autonomous counterparts. That’s why autonomy is being integrated from the beginning—not only to test whether the systems work technically, but to establish confidence that they can be used safely and effectively in combat. Anduril’s decision to pursue a button-push, semi-autonomous first flight is part of that trust-building process. It shows that autonomy isn’t just a side feature—it’s the foundation of the aircraft’s design.

Looking ahead, the outcome of Increment 1 of the CCA program will help determine how the U.S. Air Force structures its airpower for decades to come. If Fury proves successful, it could lead to large-scale production of aircraft that are cheaper, faster to build, and capable of operating in environments where even stealth fighters might struggle. It would also validate a new model of defense acquisition—one where private companies take on more development risk upfront, move faster, and deliver more flexible systems in return.

Anduril is also one of the companies selected by the U.S. Navy to explore carrier-based combat drones under a separate initiative. While these aircraft will not be direct derivatives of Fury, they will likely share key subsystems, software, and development methods. That cross-service collaboration reflects a broader U.S. defense strategy aimed at achieving interoperability, resilience, and rapid deployment across multiple theaters of operation.

Fury is more than just a new drone. It is part of a larger shift in American defense priorities toward autonomy, affordability, and scalability. It reflects the Air Force’s commitment to maintaining air dominance not by building bigger or more expensive platforms, but by deploying smarter, more agile, and more expendable systems at scale. Anduril’s work on Fury represents a strong alignment with that vision—pushing boundaries in autonomy, accelerating the development cycle, and laying the groundwork for a future where uncrewed systems are not just supporting assets, but integral elements of American combat power.