Anduril’s robot wingman has notched its first flight Friday, more than a month after the neoprime defense contractor blamed software woes and a push to make the inaugural takeoff semi-autonomous for the delay.
The takeoff happened at a testing location in California, the Air Force said in an emailed news release. Anduril’s prototype for the service’s combat collaborative combat aircraft competition has now joined one from General Atomics going from concept to first flight in less than two years.
“This milestone demonstrates how competition drives innovation and accelerates delivery,” said Air Force Secretary Troy Meink 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.”
After General Atomics announced their successful first flight in late August, Anduril executives said in September that they wanted to make its first drone wingman flight test semi-autonomous, and blamed the delay on software problems.
Friday’s first flight was semi-autonomous, the company confirmed, and it built the software for the CCA. General Atomics’ drone wingman flight in August was not semi-autonomous.
“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,” an Anduril news release said. “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.”
General Atomics spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley congratulated Anduril on its milestone.
“This is a really small aviation community, and we all have friends and professional relationships on both sides, so it’s good to see their hard work rewarded with success,” Brinkley said. “It’s been a great week for the Air Force CCA program. Congratulations all around.”
The Air Force’s competitive first increment production design is scheduled to be awarded in 2026.
Last month, Lockheed Martin announced it aimed to fly a CCA candidate of its own by 2027 which may compete in future competitions. Additionally, Boeing announced earlier this month it was designing a tiltrotor drone wingman to support the Army’s helicopter fleet.
