MOJAVE DESERT — The U.S. Air Force conducted a live-fire test in which an Anduril-built YFQ-44A Fury drone launched an AIM-120 missile at a digital target during a flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test, carried out in secluded airspace over the Mojave Desert, marked a milestone in the development of the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, designed to integrate unmanned systems alongside manned fighters.

The YFQ-44A Fury successfully executed an end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight strike against a simulated target, launching the AIM-120—an advanced medium-range air-to-air missile—under operator supervision. According to Anduril Vice President of Autonomous Airpower Mark Shushmar, “YFQ-44A took off from Edwards Air Force Base, our Lattice software ingested a target track, an operator tasked the aircraft to engage the target, and YFQ-44A fired an AIM-120 as instructed.” Shushmar emphasized that the missile was not only released but actively tracked the target, a detail Air Force Chief of Staff Ken Wilsbach confirmed, saying, “It wasn’t just an AMRAAM that came off, it was tracking the target.”

Air Force General Dale White described the test as providing “operational validation that Collaborative Combat Aircraft can execute the weapon employment sequence autonomously within pilot-defined parameters, accelerating capability delivery to the warfighter.” Wilsbach added, “We’re one step closer to delivering capabilities to the warfighter,” underscoring the Air Force’s push to rapidly field new unmanned platforms. The service has stated that any decision to fire weapons from Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be made by human operators, maintaining human oversight over lethal actions.

The live-fire demonstration was conducted out of Edwards Air Force Base, a historic flight test center located in the Mojave Desert. The secluded airspace above the desert provided a secure environment for testing the drone’s weapon launch capabilities. The YFQ-44A is part of Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, for which Anduril and General Atomics have already received production contracts. General Atomics’ competing platform, designated the YFQ-42A Dark Merlin, is expected to undergo a similar live-fire test in the fall.

General Atomics’ YFQ-42A recently resumed flight testing in May after being grounded for a month following a drone crash in the California desert. The company remains on schedule to conduct an internal bay weapon launch later this year. Meanwhile, Anduril, along with Shield AI and RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace, has been selected to advance to the next phase of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1 mission autonomy software program. The Air Force is expected to select a primary provider for the mission autonomy software next year.

The successful live-fire test represents a critical step toward the Air Force’s goal of fielding at least 150 robotic systems by the end of the decade. These unmanned aircraft are intended to operate alongside manned fighters like the F-35, enhancing combat reach while reducing risk to pilots. According to Air Force budget documents, the service is requesting roughly $1.4 billion for development and nearly $1 billion for procurement of Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones in fiscal 2027.

The program also aims to control costs: Air Force Colonel Timothy Helfrich previously stated that the drones have achieved a target cost of one-third that of an F-35A, which has an average flyaway cost of around $83 million. Air Force Chief of Staff Ken Wilsbach noted that these systems will likely need to deploy from the United States and “hop through bases” to reach distant theaters, reflecting strategic planning for global operations involving unmanned platforms.