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Last year, the Air Force announced that it trimmed back the field of prospective Increment 1 CCA designs to the proposals from Anduril and General Atomics. However, Fury’s story traces back to the late 2010s and an aggressor drone concept from a company called Blue Force Technologies, which Anduril acquired in 2023, as you can read about in extensive detail in this past War Zone feature.

“This marks another major milestone for the CCA program, now with two new uncrewed fighter aircraft going from concept to flight in less than 2 years,” the Air Force has now said in a press release confirming the YFQ-44A’s first flight. “This flight testing expands the program’s knowledge base on flight performance, autonomous behaviors, and mission system integration. By advancing multiple designs in parallel, the Air Force is gaining broader insights and refining how uncrewed aircraft will complement crewed fifth-and sixth-generation platforms in future mission environments.”

“This milestone demonstrates how competition drives innovation and accelerates delivery,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said in a statement. “These flights are giving us the hard data we need to shape requirements, reduce risk, and ensure the CCA program delivers combat capability on a pace and scale that keeps us ahead of the threat.”

Anduril and the Air Force had previously declined to provide a hard timeline for when the YFQ-44A would make its first flight.

“We have multiple vehicles at our test facility in ground testing right now, and we’re in the final stages before first flight,” Diem Salmon, Anduril’s Vice President of Air Dominance and Strike, had told TWZ and others at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2025 Air, Space, and Cyber Conference back in September. “All in all, we’re still well ahead of the program schedule in terms of getting YFQ-44A into the air. [We] feel really confident in our ability to do so and still feel really good about the program schedule.”

At that time, Salmon, as well as Jason Levin, Anduril’s Senior Vice President of Engineering for Air Dominance and Strike, offered additional details about the plans for Fury’s first flight, including the level of autonomy the company was hoping to demonstrate, which was a key schedule driver. You can read more about that here.

“It was not a race to get to first flight as fast as humanly possible. It was, how do we field this really advanced and novel capability as fast as we can,” Salmon had said. “And with that comes the recognition that the autonomy is the hard part here, and so that’s the thing that you actually need to burn down from a technical development, testing, and risk perspective. And so that’s how we’ve approached our program.”

Secretary of the Air Force Meink had also told TWZ and others at a separate roundtable at the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference that his service was hoping to see the YFQ-44A fly by the middle of October. In a keynote address at the event, now-retired Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin described Fury’s first flight as “imminent,” as well.

“My engineers tell me that if we push the button … [the drone] will take off, it’ll fly around, and it’ll come back home,” Anduril founder Palmer Luckey had also told reporters earlier this month, according to Breaking Defense. “The Air Force is going through a process of evaluation that is very, very reasonable, I think.”

“Obviously, now the problem is we’re into the shutdown,” Luckey added at that time. “Certainly … a lot of stuff stops moving.”

The U.S. federal government remains in a shutdown. Efforts have been made to find continued funding for various priority efforts, especially within the U.S. military.

With the YFQ-42A and the YFQ-44A now flying, “developmental flight activities continue across both vendor and government test locations, including Edwards Air Force Base [AFB], where envelope expansion and integration work will inform future experimentation,” according to the Air Force’s press release today. “The Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit (EOU), located at Nellis AFB, will be instrumental in evaluating operational concepts as the program transitions from testing to fielding substantial operational capability for Increment 1 before the end of the decade.”

How many Increment 1 CCAs the Air Force ultimately plans to acquire is not entirely clear. Air Force officials have said previously that between 100 and 150 drones could be ordered under the program’s first phase. It also remains to be seen whether the service buys YFQ-42As, YFQ-44As, or a mix of both.

“CCA is part of the Next Generation Air Dominance Family of Systems and leverages the Department’s Government Reference Architectures—enabling platform-agnostic autonomy development, streamlined integration across vendor systems, and more agile capability updates over time,” the Air Force’s release also noted. “The architecture is built to integrate with Allied and Joint partners, offering common autonomy and mission system standards that support seamless interoperability and teaming across Services and coalition forces.”

There are still plans for at least one more incremental CCA developmental cycle, the requirements for which have yet to be publicly disclosed. However, the submissions for Increment 2 are already expected to be significantly different from the ones for Increment 1. in September, Lockheed Martin unveiled a new CCA-type drone, called Vectis, which the company suggested could be proposed for Increment 2. This week, Aviation Week also disclosed the existence of a new drone design from Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites, currently referred to just as Project Lotus, which that outlet described in terms of its similarities to Vectis.

Increment 2 has also long been expected to involve foreign participation. Earlier this month, authorities in the Netherlands notably announced they had signed the letter of intent about joining the CCA program.

The Air Force’s CCA effort is also directly intertwined with similar efforts underway within the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. The Air Force still has many general questions to answer about how its future CCA fleets, whatever they are comprised of, will be deployed, launched, recovered, supported, and otherwise operated, not to mention employed tactically.

As such, in addition to being an important milestone in Fury’s development, the YFQ-44A’s first flight is also another step forward for the Air Force’s larger CCA plans.

Update, 3:45 PM EST:

Anduril has now put out its own release regarding the YFQ-44A’s first flight.

“Flight testing is where we prove to ourselves, to the Air Force, to our allies, and to our adversaries that these proclamations about game-changing technology go beyond words. They’re real, and they are taking to the skies today,” Jason Levin, Senior Vice President of Engineering for Air Dominance and Strike at Anduril, writes. “The flight testing process is where we prove that our aircraft meets the mark in terms of speed, maneuverability, autonomy, stealth, range, weapons systems integration, and more. As YFQ-44A climbs higher, we’re proving that it doesn’t merely look like a fighter, but that it performs like one.”

“Flight testing for the CCA program is also about more than simply proving raw fighter performance in a vacuum. The real step change that autonomy is driving is enabling a team of robotic aircraft to collaborate to accomplish mission objectives,” he adds. We designed YFQ-44A for a specific Air Force mission: to enhance survivability, lethality, and mission effectiveness by teaming with crewed fighter aircraft or operating independently. Through flight testing, Anduril and the Air Force are developing those collaborative, manned-unmanned teaming concepts and tactics that will inform how we integrate, fight with, and sustain truly autonomous aircraft.”

Levin also speaks more directly to Anduril’s previously stated focus on autonomy for the first flight, and now for testing going forward.

“YFQ-44A was not designed to be a remotely-piloted aircraft, and that is not how we are operating it — from first flight and forever onward. All of our taxi and flight tests have been and will continue to be semi-autonomous. This is a new age of air power; there is no operator with a stick and throttle flying the aircraft behind the scenes,” he says in the release. “Our aircraft is ushering in this new paradigm with incredible technical precision: it executes a mission plan on its own, manages flight control and throttle adjustment independent of human command, and returns to land at the push of a button, all under the watchful eye of an operator “on the loop” but not in it.”

“It must do more than just fly. CCA are built to win the high end fight; that’s what we’ve built the software that powers YFQ-44A to do. In the air, the fully integrated weapon system processes data at the speed that combat demands. It identifies targets and commands effects, enhancing the lethality, survivability, and effectiveness of the combined team,” he continues. “On the ground, YFQ-44A’s software backbone tracks and manages maintenance, vehicle health, and more, streamlining sustainment to ensure that it’s always ready to fly. In short, YFQ-44A’s autonomy is what makes it more than just a flying machine, but one that’s ready to fight.”

Anduril’s release also includes details about the production plans for the YFQ-44A, which tie into a “hyperscale” production facility, called Arsenal-1, that the company is now building in Ohio.

“To achieve the scale we need at the speed that the threat demands, we are building and testing a new type of production system for YFQ-44A. Through the employment of a common software backbone called ArsenalOS, our production system multiplies the effects of the thousands of design-for-manufacturing decisions made during the development of YFQ-44A,” according to Levin. “That system is underpinned by a manufacturing philosophy focused on simple, mature, and low-risk production technologies, rather than relying on manufacturing miracles. YFQ-44A will be produced at rate by a broad labor pool, commoditized supply chain, and industry-standard manufacturing processes.”

“YFQ-44A is streaking through the skies, but its next chapter will be written on the factory floors of America’s heartland. Our investment in this aircraft is the driving force behind Arsenal-1, the 5 million square foot production facility that we’re building in Columbus, Ohio,” he adds. “YFQ-44A will be the first program to move into the factory when its doors open, and we are on track to begin production of prototype CCA at Arsenal-1 in the first half of 2026.”

“We [a group of plane spotters outside Plant 42] saw the B-21 roll out and then it sat there and we waited for it,” Hamilton told TWZ. “We heard the engine noise and thought maybe they were doing taxi tests. But when the F-16 showed up, I knew.”

“It was incredible,” he said of seeing the Raider take off. “The sound, the power, I’ll never forget.”

Hamilton said he did not know how long the flight may have lasted, but tracked it for a few minutes until it was out of sight. The bomber may have flown to Edwards Air Force Base, which is also in California and currently hosts the B-21 Combined Test Force.

TWZ has also reached out to the Air Force for confirmation and further details.

The first of six pre-production B-21s also made its maiden flight in November 2023 from Plant 42 and subsequently moved to Edwards. The Raider’s prime contractor, Northrop Grumman, is building the bombers at Plant 42, which is a major hub for advanced and often classified aerospace development work.

“So this is an event-based process, based on the test team, the contractor, [and] the program office. I believe it [the first flight of the second B-21] will happen by the end of the year, but we’re not going to ever give them an artificial date that they have to make if it doesn’t bring the test program along to where they need to be,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara said during a virtual talk hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in August. “We’re going to proceed as we can, efficiently, effectively, and with a sense of urgency, but we’re also going to be event-based.”

“That’s really been the secret sauce to the B-21 right now, is no undue pressures. Let them do what they’re doing, and they’ll get us the world’s best aircraft here,” Gebara, who is currently Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, added at that time.

A second B-21 could make its first flight “shortly,” Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), had told Air & Space Forces Magazine in July. The service had previously told that outlet that its goal was for a pair of B-21s to be in flight testing in 2026. Northrop Grumman has also delivered at least two non-flying airframes to help with the test campaign.

Getting another B-21 into the air is an important new step forward for the Raider program that will allow for the further expansion of testing efforts. As of September 2024, the first flying B-21 was said to be making around two sorties every week from Edwards Air Force Base.

“The B-21 [program] is producing, its results-oriented in flight tests, basically on time, [and] basically on budget,” Gen. Gebara also said last month.

As it stands, the Air Force’s goal is to begin fielding the B-21 operationally before the end of the decade. The service also plans to buy at least 100 of the bombers, though that figure is increasingly expected to grow, as you can read more about here.

In the meantime, the Air Force’s current fleet of flying B-21s has now grown to two.

Update: 1:55 PM Eastern –

Jarod Hamilton has kindly shared additional still images from today’s B-21 flight from Palmdale with us.

Update: 3:35 PM Eastern –

The U.S. Air Force has now confirmed the first flight of the second B-21 and that the bomber has arrived at Edwards Air Force Base.

“With the arrival of the second B-21 Raider, our flight test campaign gains substantial momentum,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said in a statement. “We can now expedite critical evaluations of mission systems and weapons capabilities, directly supporting the strategic deterrence and combat effectiveness envisioned for this aircraft.”

“The addition of a second B-21 to the flight test program accelerates the path to fielding,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin also said in a statement. “By having more assets in the test environment, we bring this capability to our warfighters faster, demonstrating the urgency with which we’re tackling modernization.”

“The B-21 Raider program represents a cornerstone of our strategic nuclear modernization,” Allvin continued. “The concurrent efforts in testing, sustainment preparation and infrastructure investments clearly illustrate our commitment to providing unmatched capabilities to deter and defeat threats well into the future.”

An Air Force press release highlights the value of adding a second flying bomber to the B-21 Combined Test Force, as TWZ already noted.

“The addition of the second aircraft expands the Air Force’s testing capabilities beyond initial flight performance checks, enabling progression into critical mission systems and weapons integration testing phases. This advancement marks a significant step toward operational readiness of the nation’s sixth-generation stealth bomber,” according to the release. “The presence of multiple test aircraft at Edwards AFB also provides Air Force maintainers invaluable hands-on experience in managing simultaneous aircraft sustainment operations, testing the effectiveness of maintenance tools, technical data and the logistical processes that will support future operational squadrons.”

“Concurrent with the expanded flight-testing effort, fiscal year 2026 will see the launch of extensive military construction projects at all three designated B-21 main operating bases,” the release adds. “Ellsworth AFB, S.D., the first base set to receive operational B-21 aircraft, is already progressing rapidly on numerous infrastructure projects to ensure readiness when the aircraft arrive.”

Northrop Grumman has also put out its own press release following today’s first flight of the second B-21, which it described as “robust.”

“The next phase of flight test moves beyond flight performance and into the weapons and mission systems that make B-21 an unrivaled stealth bomber. An enhanced software package will demonstrate how Northrop Grumman will deliver seamless upgrades to the B-21 fleet, ensuring its mission capability and weapons evolve to outpace any threat,” the company’s release explains. “The flight test expansion complements a robust ground test campaign that includes multiple B-21 aircraft. Engineers have rigorously tested the B-21 to certify it can fly in the most extreme mission conditions and are demonstrating the B-21’s durability by simulating lifetimes of flight conditions. These test results continue to consistently outperform digital modeling predictions, reinforcing confidence in the B-21’s performance and progress.”

“Northrop Grumman is preparing the Air Force to operate and maintain the B-21 through its advanced training and sixth-gen fleet management tools. The company is developing comprehensive training capabilities – to include high-fidelity, full-motion simulators, immersive labs and virtual spaces – as part of the Air Force’s Formal Training Unit at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Northrop Grumman is creating training content and devices for future pilots, weapons loaders, maintainers and support personnel to operate the world’s most advanced aircraft,” it continues. “Future Air Force maintainers will use the B-21 Fleet Management Tool Northrop Grumman is developing today for the aircraft’s sustainment and maintenance activities. Already equipped with flight test and performance data and informed by decades of sustainment experience across a variety of systems, the Fleet Management Tool will keep the B-21 mission ready for the American warfighter.”

Special thanks again to Jarod Hamilton for sharing the new imagery of the B-21 flying from Palmdale today with us.

Contact the author: [email protected]

“What a great moment for the U.S. Air Force and for GA-ASI,” GA-ASI’s President David R. Alexander said in a separate statement. “It’s been our collaboration that enabled us to build and fly the YFQ-42A in just over a year. It’s an incredible achievement and I salute the Air Force for its vision and I salute our development team for delivering yet another historic first for our company.”

The Air Force announced that it had picked General Atomics and Anduril to build actual prototypes of their Increment 1 CCA designs in April 2024. General Atomics subsequently confirmed that its YFQ-42A was derived from the experimental XQ-67A drone originally developed for the Air Force’s once-secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program. The Air Force has also previously described the OBSS effort as a major ‘feeder’ into the CCA program, as you can read more about here.

In its own statement today, Anduril said that flight testing of the YFQ-44A is set to begin soon.

“Flight test is one of those milestones that you just can’t help but get excited about, no matter where you sit. Congratulations to General Atomics and the U.S. Air Force for kicking off flight testing for YFQ-42A – a major milestone on the path to fielding Increment 1 CCAs by the end of the decade,” Dr. Jason Levin, Senior Vice President of Engineering, Air Dominance, and Strike at Anduril, also said.

The Air Force says the plan remains to make a “competitive Increment 1 production decision” sometime in Fiscal Year 2026, which begins on October 1 of this year. It remains to be seen whether the service will decide to acquire production versions of the YFQ-42A, the YFQ-44A, or a mixture of both.

Air Force officials have also previously said that between 100 and 150 drones will be ordered under Increment 1. The service is still looking to acquire 1,000 CCAs, or more, across multiple iterative development cycles that could lead to very different designs. Air Force officials regularly describe the CCA program, overall, as a critical and transformative element of its future force structure plans that will be essential to succeed in future conflicts, especially a high-end fight, such as one in the Pacific against China.

“This is More Air Force in action,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in a statement around today’s announcement about the YFQ-42A’s first flight. “We’re not just moving fast – we’re learning fast. CCA will help us rethink the battlespace, extend reach, flexibility, and lethality in combat operations, and optimize warfighter performance through human-machine teaming.”

Still, there are many hurdles to overcome before seeing the CCA vision become the game-changer the USAF hopes it do be, but with the YFQ-42A now flying, the Air Force is one step closer to making it a reality.

Contact the author: [email protected]