The U.S. Air Power began live-fire testing with the YFQ-44A Collaborative Fight Plane, firing an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile over the Mojave Desert.
The U.S. Air Power has introduced the start of the live-fire testing of the Collaborative Fight Plane (CCA) program, with a YFQ-44A firing for the primary time an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. The service says the weapon was launched at “a digital goal in secluded airspace over the Mojave Desert.”
CCA Dwell-Hearth
The milestone follows the inert carriage evaluations performed earlier this 12 months in Febraury, which centered on amassing in-flight information to confirm the plane’s dealing with. Subsequent evaluations validated the information hyperlink integration between the plane and the weapon system, earlier than progressing to the live-fire.
We’re one step nearer to getting CCA to the warfighter with this stay hearth check! pic.twitter.com/1jAsIiXzVa
— Normal Ken Wilsbach (@OfficialCSAF) July 15, 2026
The AIM-120 employed within the check seems to be a stay variant, as denoted by the yellow and brown bands, indicating the presence of an explosive warhead and gasoline, respectively. The precise variant is unclear because of the high quality of the picture, though throughout captive carriage the plane was seen with the C variant underneath the wings.
“This live-fire check is a vital subsequent step within the improvement of Collaborative Fight Plane,” stated U.S. Air Power Chief of Workers Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “We’re one step nearer to delivering capabilities to the warfighter.”
New check footage: first missile shot from YFQ-44A.
YFQ-44A executed an end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight strike towards a simulated goal.
The check, executed out of @EdwardsAFB, represents an necessary step in turning CCA into an operational functionality. pic.twitter.com/70cRIs6uXJ
— Anduril Industries (@anduriltech) July 15, 2026
The service harassed as soon as once more that the CCA program will retain human oversight, particularly in terms of the usage of deadly power.
“CCA is not going to autonomously make use of weapons,” stated the assertion. “The choice to launch any weapon system stays completely with a human operator, who maintains command and management of the platform always.
The live-fire check was carried out in coordination with the 412th Check Wing’s Air Dominance Mixed Check Power, who labored to refine and validate the fashions required for a secure live-fire execution, defined the service. The beginning of the live-firing marketing campaign follows the latest manufacturing contracts for the CCA Increment 1, which incorporates Anduril’s YFQ-44 and Normal Atomics Aeronautical Methods’ YFQ-42.
“Transferring from inert carriage earlier within the 12 months to this weapon launch demonstrates program maturity, permitting us to validate our digital integration fashions with precise information,” stated Gen. Dale White, Division of Warfare direct reporting portfolio supervisor for Important Main Weapon Methods. “These assessments present operational validation that Collaborative Fight Plane can execute the weapon employment sequence autonomously inside pilot-defined parameters, accelerating functionality supply to the warfighter.”
The YFQ-44A
The YFQ-44A Fury is Anduril Industries’ design for the U.S. Air Power’s Collaborative Fight Plane (CCA) program. Developed as a low-cost, autonomous power multiplier, the YFQ-44A is designed to function alongside crewed fighters such because the F-35 Lightning II, F-15EX Eagle II and the long run F-47, extending their attain whereas endeavor high-risk missions that will in any other case expose human pilots to hazard.
Initially derived from Anduril’s Fury idea, the plane emphasizes speedy improvement, open-system structure and modularity. The Air Power formally unveiled the production-representative check car in Could 2025, with the announcement of the start of floor testing.
The YFQ-44A achieved its maiden flight on Oct. 31, 2025, reaching this milestone “simply 556 days after the beginning of improvement,” says Anduril, an unusually speedy tempo for a army plane. Based on the corporate, the plane flew semi-autonomously reasonably than being remotely piloted, demonstrating the corporate’s software-driven method to autonomous aviation.
Testing has continued to increase all through 2026, with the CCA conducting captive-carry evaluations with inert AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles to validate weapons integration and secure retailer separation earlier than live-fire testing. Later, it has additionally begun operational experimentation with the U.S. Air Power’s Experimental Operations Unit at Edwards Air Power Base, California, permitting to begin growing techniques, methods and procedures for integrating autonomous fight plane into future air operations.
Extra lately, the U.S. Air Power awarded a number of contracts for the Collaborative Fight Plane program, together with manufacturing contracts for the Increment 1 plane in addition to mission autonomy software program. The service defined that the award arrived months forward of scheduled as a result of the 2 uncrewed belongings already met rigorous mission necessities and are prepared for full-scale manufacturing.
Notably, the CCAs at the moment are dropping the ‘Y’ designation which indicated prototypes, whereas sustaining the designation of UAVs (as denoted by the ‘Q’ car sort code) with the supposed function as a fighter (indicated by the ‘F’ primary mission). The service intends to discipline roughly 1,000 combat-capable CCA all through a number of Increments.
