The United States Air Force fired a live AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile from an Anduril YFQ-44A Fury drone for the first time in a test conducted over the Mojave Desert near Edwards Air Force Base, California. The launch marked the first live weapons discharge by any aircraft under the USAF’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme, a major leap toward fielding autonomous drone wingmen that can fight alongside crewed fighters. The missile engaged a digital target in a beyond-visual-range simulation, validating that a robotic combat aircraft can carry out an end-to-end air-to-air engagement.
What Is the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program?
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme is the US Air Force’s flagship effort to develop a family of semi-autonomous, jet-powered unmanned aircraft that operate as “loyal wingmen” alongside crewed fighters such as the F-35 Lightning II, F-22 Raptor, and the next-generation Boeing F-47. The core idea is to field affordable, attritable combat drones that can fly ahead of manned jets into contested airspace, acting as sensor platforms, electronic warfare nodes, and missile carriers.
Unlike traditional drones that are remotely piloted, CCAs are designed with significant autonomy. They can take off, navigate, and react to threats with limited human input, though the Air Force has stressed that a human operator retains command authority over weapons release at all times.
The programme is being pursued in successive increments. Increment 1, the current phase, focuses on air-to-air combat and is expected to deliver more than 150 aircraft by the end of 2030. Two designs were selected for prototyping in 2024 and later for production in June 2026: the Anduril YFQ-44A Fury and the General Atomics YFQ-42A. Under the production contract, the Air Force has set a cost target of roughly one-third of an F-35A, which has a flyaway cost of around $82.5 million per unit, placing each CCA in the $30 million range.
The US Air Force requested about $1.4 billion for CCA development and nearly $1 billion for procurement in fiscal year 2027.
The YFQ-44A Fury: From Clean Sheet to Combat Ready
The YFQ-44A, internally named Fury, was originally designed by Blue Force Technologies as a threat-simulation aggressor aircraft before Anduril Industries acquired the company in 2023 and adapted the design for the CCA programme. Anduril, founded by Palmer Luckey in 2017, is a defence technology company known for its software-driven approach to building military hardware.
The Fury is a fighter-like unmanned aircraft roughly half the size of an F-16 Fighting Falcon. It is powered by a single Williams FJ44-4M turbofan engine producing 4,000 pounds of thrust, and it can fly at speeds up to Mach 0.95 at altitudes as high as 50,000 feet. The airframe can pull up to 9G, matching the manoeuvrability of many crewed fighters.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Length | 20 feet (6.1 m) |
| Wingspan | 17 feet (5.2 m) |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) |
| Engine | 1 x Williams FJ44-4M turbofan (4,000 lbf thrust) |
| Max speed | Mach 0.95 |
| Service ceiling | 50,000 feet |
| G-limits | +9 / -3 |
| Armament hardpoints | 2 external stations |
Anduril took the aircraft from a clean-sheet design to first flight in just 556 days, one of the fastest development cycles for any fighter-type aircraft in modern history. The prototype made its maiden flight on 31 October 2025. By February 2026, the YFQ-44A was already flying with inert AIM-120 missiles in captive-carry tests to validate airworthiness and weapons integration.
The YFQ-44A carries its weapons on external hardpoints under the wings, capable of carrying two AIM-120 AMRAAMs. This external carriage is a deliberate design choice that keeps the aircraft smaller and cheaper than designs with internal weapons bays.
How the Live-Fire Test Unfolded
The missile launch was conducted by the 412th Test Wing’s Air Dominance Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base, a premier US military flight test facility in the Mojave Desert. The test campaign followed a structured, phased approach throughout 2026.
Earlier in the year, the YFQ-44A underwent inert captive-carry flights where it carried dummy AMRAAMs to gather aerodynamic handling data and validate that the weapon could be safely transported in flight. This was followed by systems integration testing focused on the data link between the aircraft and the missile, ensuring that commands from the operator were correctly received and executed in a simulated environment.
In the live-fire test, the YFQ-44A autonomously carried out the targeting sequence and missile launch, while a human operator retained the final decision to fire. The Air Force described the target as a digital target, meaning the engagement was conducted against a simulated aerial threat rather than a physical drone or target. The missile tracked and flew toward the simulated target successfully.
General Ken Wilsbach, the US Air Force Chief of Staff, said the missile had tracked the target throughout the engagement and noted that the test went beyond a simple weapons release. General Dale White said the transition from inert carriage to a live-fire event demonstrated programme maturity and validated the service’s digital integration models.
The Air Force explicitly stated that the decision to release any weapon remains exclusively with a human operator who maintains command and control at all times. The service has made it clear that CCA platforms will not autonomously employ weapons.
The AIM-120 AMRAAM: The Missile Behind the Milestone
The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) is the backbone of US and allied air-to-air combat. Developed by Raytheon, it is an all-weather, beyond-visual-range, active radar-guided missile that allows a fighter to engage enemy aircraft from distances far beyond visual sight.
The AMRAAM is a fire-and-forget weapon. Once launched, it uses its own internal active radar seeker to track and home in on the target, allowing the launching aircraft to turn away or engage other threats. This is a significant upgrade over older semi-active radar homing missiles, which require the launching aircraft to continuously illuminate the target with its radar.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Active radar-guided, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile |
| Length | 12 feet (3.66 m) |
| Launch weight | 335 pounds (152 kg) |
| Speed | Supersonic (approx. Mach 4) |
| Range | More than 20 nautical miles (classified, newer variants exceed 80 miles) |
| Guidance | Inertial with mid-course updates + active radar terminal homing |
| Warhead | High-explosive blast fragmentation (18.1 kg) |
| Platforms | F-15, F-16, F/A-18, F-22, F-35, and now CCA drones |
The AMRAAM was first introduced in 1991 and has been continuously upgraded through variants such as the AIM-120C and AIM-120D. The missile is planned to be succeeded by the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) , which is currently under development and will arm future CCAs as well.
Why This Matters for the Future of Air Warfare
The successful live-fire test represents a fundamental shift in how air combat is conceived. For decades, the pilot in the cockpit has been the decisive factor in aerial warfare. The CCA programme challenges that assumption by proving that unmanned aircraft can perform the core combat function of firing beyond-visual-range missiles autonomously.
Affordable Mass and Combat Mass
One of the USAF’s most pressing problems is fleet size. The service operates fewer combat aircraft today than at any point in its history, while potential adversaries like China have rapidly expanded their air forces. CCAs are designed to solve this problem by providing affordable mass at roughly one-third the cost of an F-35.
Reducing Risk to Pilots
CCAs are intended to fly into the most dangerous airspace first, absorbing enemy fire and gathering intelligence before crewed aircraft enter the fight. This reduces the risk to highly trained pilots, whose loss is far more costly than the loss of a drone.
Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T)
The operational concept behind CCAs is Manned-Unmanned Teaming, where a single pilot in an F-35 or F-22 could command multiple drone wingmen. Each CCA could carry additional sensors and missiles, effectively multiplying the combat power of a single fighter squadron. The Air Force envisions a future where a four-ship formation of fighters operates alongside 8 to 16 CCAs.
Global Context
The US is not alone in pursuing loyal wingman drones. Australia successfully fired an AMRAAM from its Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone in December 2025. Turkey’s Baykar Kizilelma fired a domestically built Gokdogan air-to-air missile in November 2025. The United Kingdom’s Project Mosquito and the US Navy’s separate carrier-based CCA programme are also progressing.
India’s Pursuit of Loyal Wingman Capabilities
India is also actively developing loyal wingman technology. The HAL CATS Warrior, a 2.2-ton stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle, is being designed to operate alongside the Tejas light combat aircraft under the Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) programme. The Indian Air Force is reportedly planning to acquire up to 100 CATS Warrior drones.
In addition, India has procured MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian high-altitude long-endurance drones from the US through a government-to-government deal. While these are surveillance and reconnaissance platforms rather than fighter drones, General Atomics has reportedly pitched its Gambit-2 loyal wingman design to the Indian Air Force with the possibility of integrating India’s indigenously developed Astra air-to-air missile.
India’s indigenous unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) programme, the Ghatak stealth combat drone, is also under development by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and HAL.
Key Takeaways
- The US Air Force’s YFQ-44A Fury drone fired a live AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile for the first time, marking the first live weapons launch by a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).
- The CCA programme aims to field more than 150 semi-autonomous drone wingmen by 2030 at roughly one-third the cost of an F-35A (around $30 million per unit).
- The YFQ-44A Fury, developed by Anduril Industries, has a top speed of Mach 0.95, service ceiling of 50,000 feet, and 9G manoeuvrability. It was designed from clean sheet to first flight in 556 days.
- The AIM-120 AMRAAM is a fire-and-forget, active radar-guided, beyond-visual-range missile with supersonic speed, first introduced in 1991 and manufactured by Raytheon.
- A human operator retained final authority over the weapons release decision at all times; the CCA executed the targeting sequence autonomously but did not independently decide to fire.
- India is developing its own loyal wingman capabilities including the HAL CATS Warrior (up to 100 units planned), the Ghatak stealth UCAV, and has acquired MQ-9B drones from the US.
