Anduril Tests 'Fury' Drone with Live Missile

- Anduril's Fury was originally developed by Blue Force Technologies as an "aggressor" drone to simulate adversary fighters for training exercises before Anduril acquired the company in September 2023 and adapted the design for the CCA program. The drone is designed to fly at speeds up to Mach 0.95, reach an altitude of 50,000 feet, and withstand up to 9 Gs. - The AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) is a beyond-visual-range missile with its own active radar for terminal guidance, allowing a pilot to engage multiple targets simultaneously and maneuver away after firing. It is a replacement for the older AIM-7 Sparrow missile series, offering improvements in speed, size, and capability against low-altitude targets. - The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program aims to produce "loyal wingman" drones to fly alongside manned fighters, providing "affordable mass" and extending the reach and capabilities of the U.S. Air Force. The current phase of testing involves captive-carry flights with inert missiles to evaluate the airworthiness and structural performance of the integrated system. - For Increment 1 of the CCA program, the Air Force selected Anduril and General Atomics from an initial field of five contenders in April 2024 to build production-representative prototypes. The other initial contenders were Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. - The Fury prototype received the official military designation YFQ-44A in March 2025, a significant step as "F" designates a fighter and "Q" designates an unmanned aircraft. Its competitor from General Atomics is designated the YFQ-42A. - Anduril, founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, operates on a "build first, sell later" model, proactively developing products with its own capital rather than waiting for traditional government contracts. The company has a software-first approach, centered on its Lattice AI platform, to enable autonomous operations and manned-unmanned teaming. - While the Air Force's Fury is designed for land-based runways, Anduril plans to develop a completely new aircraft for the Navy's CCA program, as carrier-based operations require specific features like folding wings for storage and a more robust structure for catapult launches and arrested landings. - The Air Force plans to procure around 100-150 CCAs in the first increment, with a target cost of approximately $25-30 million per aircraft, and potentially thousands in a later second increment. This is part of a broader strategy to have about 1,000 CCA drones in the future fleet.