US Air Force new uav YQ:44A.

Anduril’s new autonomous combat drone, the YFQ-44A “Fury,” completed its maiden flight on 31 October 2025 in Victorville, California (the flight used an L-29 Delfín as a chase aircraft). The Fury is one of two unmanned designs participating in Phase I (Increment I) of the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program; the other is General Atomics’ YFQ-42A, which began flight testing in August. Anduril says the design went from initial concept to first flight in 556 days. The USAF views the test as a milestone for defining requirements and reducing risk, and the service hopes to eventually procure on the order of 100–150 collaborative combat drones once a winner is chosen. The article also notes that a second competition phase (Increment II) may open with different requirements and could attract entrants such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman—and possibly foreign participants.