Anduril's autonomous combat drone built to fly alongside F-35s and F-22s as an AI wingman. First flew October 2025, now in production at Arsenal-1 in Ohio.Source: background

How much does a CCA drone cost?

The Fury uses aluminium airframes and commercial components to keep unit costs low enough for mass production. Congress allocated $680 million for the CCA programme's current phase.Source: quick_facts

Can the Fury fire missiles?

It completed captive-carry testing with an AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile in February 2026. Live-fire tests are planned for later in 2026.Source: background

Background

The YFQ-44A Fury is Anduril's autonomous combat aircraft competing in the US Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme, designed to fly as a loyal wingman alongside crewed fighters including the F-35 and F-22. It completed captive-carry testing with an inert AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, the first CCA candidate to reach weapons integration, and first flew on 31 October 2025. Congress allocated $680 million for the CCA programme's current phase.

Serial production began at Arsenal-1, Anduril's 5-million-square-foot Ohio factory in Pickaway County, with the first aircraft shipped four months ahead of the announced July 2026 target. At full three-shift capacity, the 22-workstation line can produce 150 aircraft per year. On 17 June 2026, the Air Force awarded the first funded CCA production contracts to Anduril (FQ-44A) and General Atomics, targeting 150-plus autonomous combat aircraft at under $30 million each; the FY2027 budget request carries $1.4 billion for development and $1 billion for procurement. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman all competed and were not selected.

The Fury demonstrated a mid-flight switch between Shield AI's Hivemind and Anduril's Lattice autonomy software, proving the airframe is software-agnostic. The CCA production award converts the YFQ-44A developmental designation to FQ-44A, the operational suffix, marking the first time a software-native defence startup has won a crewed-fighter companion production franchise from the US Air Force. The award validates Anduril's Arsenal-1 mass-production model and positions the FQ-44A as the template for how autonomous combat systems will enter USAF inventory in the next decade.