Anduril YFQ-44A Drone Fires Live Air-to-Air Missile in Key CCA Test

Published Jul 15, 06:29 PM UTC

The U.S. Air Force announced on July 15 that an Anduril YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone successfully fired a live AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile at a digital target over the Mojave Desert, California, during a test flown from Edwards Air Force Base. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach called the live-fire test a critical step toward delivering operational CCA capabilities. Anduril's vice president Mark Shushnar said the test demonstrated an end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight strike using the autonomous Lattice software. The CCA program aims to field about 1,000 semi-autonomous drones to fly alongside crewed aircraft for missions including strike, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and decoy operations. The Air Force stressed that humans retain full control over weapon release. General Atomics, developing the competing YFQ-42A, plans its own live-fire test by end of 2026.