{ "archive_path": "archive/1789423589.87522", "base_url": "www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s", "basename": "andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s", "bookmarked_date": "2026-09-14 22:06", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": "www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s.html" }, "domain": "www.twz.com", "extension": "", "hash": "GW8F213YZC7FT7BN7VGM", "history": { "archive_org": [], "dom": [], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-15T01:31:33.123100+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-15T01:31:32.616215+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--head", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-15T01:31:33.875953+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-15T01:31:33.134216+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [], "media": [], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js", "https://www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s" ], "cmd_version": "1.0.0", "end_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:15.476507+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:11.188803+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmp_v5fov6j", "https://www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:11.174470+00:00", "index_texts": [ "Anduril\u2019s YFQ-44A Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) has already flown in formation alongside F-35 fighters during U.S. Air Force testing, company executives have revealed, offering the clearest indication yet that live manned-unmanned teaming work with the fifth-generation fighter is underway.\n\n\n\nThe disclosure came during a briefing by Anduril executives Jason Levin, senior vice president for Air Dominance and Strike, and Aaron Simpson, vice president for Strategy for Air Dominance and Strike, at the\u00a0Air & Space Forces Air, Space and Cyber Symposium\u00a0that\u00a0TWZ\u00a0is attending. The executives said the Fury flew alongside F-35s during a July exercise conducted with the Air Force\u2019s Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. You can read more about that event in our past reporting here. \n\n\n\nA YFQ-44A Fury assigned to the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Experimental Operations Unit taxis toward a sunshade at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, July 20, 2026. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Renee Blundon Senior Airman Renee Blundon\n\n\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve already started flying in formation alongside crewed. I can even say fifth-gen fighters. F-35,\u201d Levin said.\n\n\n\nThe testing is an important step toward the Air Force\u2019s broader vision for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, in which relatively inexpensive autonomous aircraft are intended to operate alongside and support crewed fighters in contested airspace.\n\n\n\nThe executives stressed, however, that the F-35 was not yet controlling the Fury during those flights.\n\n\n\n\u201cBut they\u2019re not controlling it from the crewed fighter yet,\u201d Levin said. \u201cNot yet.\u201d\n\n\n\nInstead, the July testing involved Fury operating under its Mission Autonomy system while sharing airspace with crewed fighters, other CCAs, and other aircraft. Anduril says Air Force personnel were able to operate the autonomy system without Anduril personnel directly running the aircraft, although company personnel remained on site in a supporting role.\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\tLattice for Mission Autonomy: An Unfair Advantage for Unrivaled Deterrence\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\nThe company described the progression toward direct manned-unmanned teaming as a \u201ccrawl, run, build-up\u201d process.\n\n\n\nAnduril says it has already begun work on what it calls \u201cquarterback integration,\u201d referring to the ability for a crewed aircraft to direct or task autonomous aircraft. That work has been conducted in hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop environments as well as on the Fury itself.\n\n\n\n\u201cMost of those events will be coming up here in a matter of weeks or months,\u201d Levin said when asked about the timeline for the first quarterback integration with Fury.\n\n\n\nAsked whether those events would involve live flying, the answer was unequivocal: \u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\n\nA YFQ-44A undergoes an undated captive carry test at a California test location. This test phase uses inert munitions to methodically validate weapons integration, structural performance and safety, ensuring the platform can safely carry external stores. Courtesy photo via U.S. Air Force Secretary of the Air Force Publi\n\n\n\nExactly how an F-35 would control Fury remains part of that ongoing development effort. The executives pointed to work involving integration of the appropriate human-machine interfaces, primarily including tablet-based control from the crewed fighter, at least at first.\n\n\n\nThe distinction between flying alongside an F-35 and being controlled by an F-35 is important. The former demonstrates that Fury\u2019s aircraft and autonomy systems can operate safely in the same battlespace as a fifth-generation fighter. The latter would represent a much more significant demonstration of the operational concept behind CCAs: allowing a single crewed fighter to employ and manage additional autonomous aircraft as part of a larger force.\n\n\n\nAnduril\u2019s July testing went beyond simple formation flying. The company said Fury was conducting Mission Autonomy flights using live sensor data and was operating in airspace shared with crewed fighters and other CCAs. Air Force operators reportedly conducted both relatively basic route and pattern work and more representative tactical scenarios.\n\n\n\nThe Fury\u2019s work with the Air Force\u2019s Experimental Operations Unit has progressed through two increasingly ambitious phases. During the first exercise in April at Edwards Air Force Base, Air Force personnel were trained to operate the aircraft and were able to launch and recover it using Anduril\u2019s compact Menace-T\u00a0setup, essentially a pair of ruggedized cases and a laptop rather than a conventional ground-control station. \n\n\n\nBy the second exercise, conducted at Creech in July, the Air Force had reduced the manpower and infrastructure required further. A single EOU operator could launch and recover the aircraft after only hours of training, while Air Force personnel independently operated Fury\u2019s Mission Autonomy. The aircraft also flew in airspace shared with other CCAs, while the exercise demonstrated disaggregated operations and a rapid \u201chot reload\u201d in which two operators replaced an AIM-120 AMRAAM with the engine running, reducing the turnaround between sorties to single-digit minutes.\n\n\n\nA U.S. airman assigned to the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Experimental Operations Unit loads an inert missile onto a YFQ-44A Fury aircraft at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, July 20, 2026. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Renee Blundon Senior Airman Renee Blundon\n\n\n\nThe July exercise also included a live weapons demonstration that Anduril characterized as a complete end-to-end kill chain rather than simply a captive-carry or basic weapons-release test. The Fury launched from Edwards with a single operator and received a track generated by an external source over a beyond-line-of-sight connection. That track was ingested by Anduril\u2019s Lattice AI-infused autonomy software system, after which the operator tasked the aircraft to engage. Fury then launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM and guided the weapon to the target. Anduril described the test as demonstrating the complete kill chain from offboard targeting information, through the aircraft\u2019s mission systems and operator tasking, to an actual air-to-air weapons engagement.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew test footage: first missile shot from YFQ-44A. YFQ-44A executed an end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight strike against a simulated target. The test, executed out of @EdwardsAFB, represents an important step in turning CCA into an operational capability. pic.twitter.com/70cRIs6uXJ\u2014 Anduril Industries (@anduriltech) July 15, 2026\n\n\n\n\n\nOn the weapons side, the production FQ-44 is being designed around four external hardpoints, allowing it to carry four AIM-120 AMRAAMs for the Air Force\u2019s primary air-to-air mission set. Currently, the demonstration aircraft can carry two. Regardless, the company is also pursuing a much broader weapons portfolio for Fury. Executives said they have already begun integration and fit checks for 500-pound guided bombs, Small Diameter Bombs, low-cost cruise missiles \u2014 including Anduril\u2019s Barracuda 500 offering \u2014 other air-to-air weapons, rocket pods and targeting pods. Those integrations are intended to give Fury options beyond air-to-air combat, including counter-drone, counter-cruise-missile and air-to-ground/air-surface strike missions. Anduril stressed that these are currently integration and engineering efforts rather than claims that all of those weapons have been flight-tested from Fury. The company also said additional sensors, such as a targeting pod, could be added for some of those missions.\n\n\n\nThe executives acknowledged that some of the more advanced tactical capabilities remain under development and are being explored extensively in simulation. Those efforts include areas such as sensor fusion, track discrimination and tactical engagements.\n\n\n\nA U.S. Air Force YFQ-44A Fury takes off for a mission flight during an Agile Combat Employment exercise at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, July 21, 2026. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kristal Munguia Staff Sgt. Kristal Munguia\n\n\n\nThe ultimate objective is an aircraft that does not require a large ground-control infrastructure or a dedicated operator for every individual sortie. As previously noted, during the July exercise, Anduril says a single Air Force operator was able to launch and recover a Fury after only hours of training, while other Air Force personnel operated the aircraft\u2019s Mission Autonomy functions.\n\n\n\nThat same exercise also demonstrated what Anduril described as \u201cdisaggregated operations,\u201d with personnel at multiple locations able to operate the same aircraft. The concept is intended to support an Agile Combat Employment-style approach in which CCAs can be dispersed across multiple operating locations rather than relying on a single large ground footprint.\n\n\n\nThe company has since delivered a Fury aircraft to the Air Force\u2019s EOU at Creech, making it the first CCA to be permanently delivered to the unit, according to Anduril. The service is now flying the aircraft multiple times a day with what the company said is a very limited Anduril presence.\n\n\n\nA YFQ-44A production-representative test vehicle is staged in a testing chamber at Costa Mesa, California. Courtesy photo via U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Gustavo Castillo\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, Anduril says assembly of Fury airframes has already begun at its Arsenal facility, with production aircraft expected to begin coming off the line early next year. The company says it has built the facility and supply chain around a potential production rate of 150 aircraft per year, although that figure is a planned capacity rather than an existing Air Force order. Anduril executives said the company has already advanced procurement of long-lead items and worked with its Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers to support that rate, while also examining additional production lines. They emphasized that the current Air Force pricing is based on a substantially lower annual buy than 150 aircraft, but said the Fury\u2019s unit cost is well below $20 million at the quantities currently contemplated. The company also says the production line is designed for relatively rapid reconfiguration, allowing capacity to be shifted between products in weeks rather than the months or years associated with more traditional aircraft production facilities.\n\n\n\nEarlier this year, the Air Force awarded contracts for the production of FQ-44A Fury and General Atomics\u00a0FQ-42A Dark Merlin\u00a0drones \u2014 the latter has now been formally named Vengeance. This sets the service up to operate a split initial fleet of CCAs. As you can read about here, the Air Force is now aiming to have at least 500 CCA in service by 2032, a substantial step up from earlier plans, with the USAF having previously talked about\u00a0acquiring \u201cover\u201d 150 of these drones\u00a0by the end of the decade. The 500 target will likely include upcoming increment two CCAs, as well, the requirements of which the Air Force is still working on.\n\n\n\nFor Anduril, the next major milestone should go far beyond simply putting a Fury and an F-35 in the same formation, demonstrating that a crewed fifth-generation fighter can actually command and employ the autonomous aircraft as part of a live mission.\n\n\n\nIf Anduril\u2019s timeline holds, that testing could begin relatively soon.\n\n\n\nContact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:08.568931+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:08.561067+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "Anduril\u2019s YFQ-44A Fury CCA Has Flown Alongside F-35s", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:08.514460+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--backup-converted", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--timeout=120", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--warc-file=/data/archive/1789423589.87522/warc/1789435893", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "https://www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-09-15T01:33:08.491229+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-15T01:31:33.886331+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "Anduril\u2019s YFQ-44A Fury CCA Has Flown Alongside F-35s", "warc": null, "wget": "www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1789423589.87522", "newest_archive_date": "2026-09-15T01:33:11.188803+00:00", "num_failures": 0, "num_outputs": 6, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-09-15T01:31:32.616215+00:00", "path": "/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "a59eabce-6448-498c-acd0-80a0f634169c", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1789423589-import.txt" ], "tags": ",pool,war-wiki,escalation", "tags_str": "pool,war-wiki,escalation", "timestamp": "1789423589.87522", "title": "Anduril\u2019s YFQ-44A Fury CCA Has Flown Alongside F-35s", "updated": "2026-09-15T01:31:32.616069+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-09-15 01:31", "url": "https://www.twz.com/air/andurils-yfq-44a-fury-cca-has-flown-alongside-f-35s" }