NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — Anduril officials stated that production work on FQ-44 Fury drones cannot commence until Congress approves fiscal year 2027 funding. The company has delivered prototypes and completed key tests, but the current funding environment prevents the start of full-scale manufacturing.

Congress passed a continuing resolution that holds government spending at fiscal year 2026 levels through December 11. This legislative measure restricts the Defense Department’s ability to start work on new programs, creating a bottleneck for initiatives that require fresh appropriations.

The Air Force awarded production contracts to Anduril and General Atomics in June to build the first round of Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Anduril’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft platform is officially designated the FQ-44A Fury, while General Atomics’ platform is designated the FQ-42A Vengeance. Six companies, including Anduril, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Collins Aerospace and Shield AI, are competing to develop mission-autonomy software for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

Anduril was the first of the two Collaborative Combat Aircraft builders to deliver a prototype to the Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit. The YFQ-44 conducted a successful live fire test of an AMRAAM air-to-air missile in July. Anduril supported the Experimental Operations Unit during additional Fury tests at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The Experimental Operations Unit is headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Air Force operators launched and recovered the YFQ-44 aircraft and flew it using mission autonomy software without Anduril personnel assisting. "Experimental Operations Unit personnel performed a hot reload of an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile on the YFQ-44 with the engine running, reducing turnaround time from hours to minutes," Jason Levin said.

Jason Levin, Anduril’s senior vice president of engineering, stated that current Air Force orders do not yet reach the annual production threshold of the Arsenal-1 facility. Anduril’s Arsenal-1 facility outside Columbus, Ohio, can produce up to 150 Fury aircraft per year. Anduril is currently building YFQ-44 Fury prototypes at the Arsenal-1 facility. Levin added that the company has begun quarterback integration testing where a manned fighter controls the drone from a tablet.

Anduril has begun integrating other munitions using internal funding, including 500-pound guided bombs, small diameter bombs, and Barracuda 500 cruise missiles. The company has also begun integration on rocket pods and targeting pods to perform missions such as counter-UAS, counter-cruise missile, and air-to-ground strike. Collins Aerospace and Shield AI are contracted to provide mission autonomy for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program via the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture.

Erin Simpson, Anduril’s vice president for strategy execution, stated the company has invested its own funds and gone as far as it can without procurement dollars. We have invested our own funds and gone as far as we can without procurement dollars, Simpson said. The Air Force requested $996.5 million in fiscal year 2027 to initiate Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1 procurement.

Why It Matters

The delay in production shows the dependency of advanced defense technology programs on timely congressional appropriations. The continuing resolution creates a temporary freeze on new spending, affecting the transition from prototype testing to operational deployment for the FQ-44A Fury. This situation illustrates the scale of the Air Force's ambition, which involves fielding hundreds of autonomous aircraft and thousands of associated munitions within the next decade.

The competitive landscape for mission-autonomy software involves multiple major defense contractors, indicating a broad industrial base effort to support the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The integration of various munitions and the development of control interfaces, such as tablet-based quarterbacking, demonstrate the technical complexity of the systems being developed. The outcome of the fiscal year 2027 funding approval will determine the pace at which these capabilities become available to the military.

Timeline

In June 2026, the Air Force awarded production contracts to Anduril and General Atomics to build the first round of Collaborative Combat Aircraft. In July 2026, the YFQ-44 conducted a successful live fire test of an AMRAAM air-to-air missile.

This continuing resolution restricts the Defense Department’s ability to start work on new programs.

Also on September 14, 2026, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink stated the Air Force intends to have at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft in service by 2032. On the same day, Erin Simpson, Anduril’s vice president for strategy execution, stated the company has invested its own funds and gone as far as it can without procurement dollars.

What's New

Air Force fiscal year 2027 budget documents indicate the service intends to buy nearly 28,000 Family of Affordable Mass Munitions weapons over the next five years. The Air Force plans to deploy 100 Massed Modular Aircraft platforms by 2029 and have 500 in service by 2032.

The Air Force expects to have tens of thousands of Family of Affordable Mass Munitions deployed by 2030. The Air Force plans to field at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft by 2032, an increase from the June plan to procure more than 150 combat-capable CCAs by the end of the decade.