Anduril's YFQ-44A “Fury” flies: a semi-autonomous fighter drone built in 556 days

Anduril's YFQ-44A, internally called Fury, made its first flight on October 31, 2025 at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, the US Air Force confirmed. It is one of two contenders in Increment 1 of the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program — the other being General Atomics' YFQ-42A, which flew earlier in 2025. Anduril says the aircraft went from clean-sheet design to first flight in 556 days, which it calls faster than any major fighter program in recent history. The CCA concept pairs lower-cost autonomous aircraft ("affordable mass") with crewed fighters; on the flight, the YFQ-44A executed its mission plan, handled flight control and throttle independently, and returned to land under operator direction rather than being remotely piloted. The mission-autonomy software flown was developed by Anduril and Shield AI.

Technical Breakdown

• Platform / class: jet-powered, semi-autonomous collaborative combat aircraft (a "drone wingman")
• Program: USAF CCA Increment 1 (competing with General Atomics' YFQ-42A)
• First flight: October 31, 2025, Victorville, CA
• Development pace: ~556 days from clean-sheet design to first flight
• Autonomy: onboard mission execution, independent flight-control/throttle, operator-directed recovery; mission-autonomy software from Anduril + Shield AI
• Next milestone: weapons-carriage testing planned for the following year [Unconfirmed: exact dates not finalized]

Industry Impact

For air forces, CCA promises to expand combat mass at a fraction of a crewed fighter's cost. For primes, a software-first newcomer flying a competitive jet on this timeline pressures incumbents on speed and price. For regulators and operators, semi-autonomous combat aircraft sharpen questions of human control and certification. For investors, a flying CCA validates Anduril's "build fast, build affordable" thesis at the high end of airpower.