It appears likely that Anduril will secure the US Air Force’s “Collaborative Combat Aircraft” contract—helped along by its leaders’ savvy political decisions.
Anduril’s YFQ-44A completed its maiden flight on October 31, 2025, understandably to great fanfare. The test flight occurred at the Victorville/Southern California Logistics Airport. This system is one of two prototypes for the United States Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) system that has been selected by the Air Force to serve as an uncrewed “loyal wingman” that teams with crewed fighters (the other prototype is General Atomics’ YFQ-42A).
Anduril calls the design “Fury”; it’s a small, jet-powered airframe that looks like a miniature fighter jet and is built for autonomy, weapon integration, and operations in heavily contested airspace. These are the epitome of modern-day force multipliers, extending the defensive envelope—as well as the offensive capabilities—of manned warplanes while enhancing their sensor range.
The first flight of the YFQ-44A was semi-autonomous. The aircraft managed flight controls and throttle and performed an automated landing. That’s an early validation of its autonomy stack. Anduril insists that their software-centric approach, the company’s “ArsenalOS,” a common digital backbone for all their products, will enable rapid updates for enhanced autonomy and more efficient mission behavior. Anduril says the aircraft was developed and flown within around 556 days.
Anduril’s Crafty Political Maneuvering
A production decision is expected from the Air Force within the year, as the USAF evaluates both the Anduril and General Atomics variants of the CCA prototypes currently being tested.
If selected, Anduril says they will scale production on this weapon—and are thinking about placing the production facility in Ohio while ramping up the production over the next year, if selected by the Air Force.
Talk of moving a major production facility to Ohio is interesting, as Ohio is in many respects the political homeland of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) ideology. Anduril’s executives—led by former Oculus creator and Trump ally Palmer Luckey—understand the potency of stating their intention to effectively reindustrialize the depleted epicenter of the hollowed out American Rust Belt in Ohio. What’s more, Vice President JD Vance hails from Ohio, and his political base is there. So is GOP 2024 contender Vivek Ramaswamy, who is now running to be the next Republican governor of Ohio.
Between this smart sales pitch to the US government, along with Luckey’s personal ties to other tech gurus Peter Thiel and Elon Musk—and the fact that all these “tech bros” (the so-called “Broligarchs”) are politically and financially linked to the Trump administration—the chances are high that the Air Force will select the Anduril YFQ-44A over General Atomics’ YFQ-42A.
However, that remains to be seen.
Whoever Wins the Contract, Aerial Drones Are Here to Stay
Overall, CCA’s represent a shift toward manned-unmanned teaming (MUMT) as well as massed, more affordable force elements that can extend capacity in contested environments. Getting a prototype flying quickly is a major milestone in proving technical feasibility and schedule.
One caveat remains, of course: this was an early test. Flight testing will focus on verifying flight performance, autonomy, mission systems, survivability, and eventually weapons integration. Many more tests and demonstrations are required before any operational fielding. But we do seem to be moving quickly toward that point in time.
And when that time comes, America will suddenly have moved itself into a much more competitive position when faced with autonomous weapons being developed by its rivals in places like China and Russia.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
