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Creech Air Force Base, Nev. — The Air Force has taken delivery of its first two Collaborative Combat Aircraft, a key step toward pairing uncrewed, semi-autonomous systems with crewed jets in future combat operations.
Anduril delivered the YFQ-44A to the service’s Experimental Operations Unit last month, followed by General Atomics’ YFQ-42A arriving last week. Both airframes will support Air Combat Command-led operational experimentation intended to refine how CCA will be employed alongside crewed aircraft in contested environments.
“Putting CCA in the hands of Airmen is how we build the operational future of this program,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “Anduril’s Fury and General Atomics’ Vengeance deliveries show we can move at incredible speed, compete, and deliver cost-effective combat power to the force.”
The deliveries extend the Air Force’s accelerated approach to CCA development, which stresses competition, speed and early operator involvement. Recent milestones include Anduril’s YFQ-44A AIM-120 live-fire test and the second Agile Combat Employment Exercise in July. The service says the effort will let it evaluate aircraft performance and employment concepts while shaping training, sustainment, manpower and infrastructure for fielding at scale.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Fury and Vengeance to the experimental operational unit,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “Our Airmen are excited to see what Collaborative Combat Aircraft can do.”
Airmen assigned to the Experimental Operations Unit have begun assessments under representative conditions, exploring how small teams can generate sorties from distributed, austere locations. The work is aimed at determining how CCAs can extend the reach, flexibility and survivability of the Combat Air Forces as part of a broader human-machine team.
Program officials describe CCA as a pillar of a wider Department of the Air Force push to deliver affordable, adaptable and combat-ready capability at speed. Operational experimentation at Creech is expected to inform how future units organize, train, equip and employ CCAs in support of air superiority and other combat missions.
