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American defence giant Anduril Industries has announced the YFQ-44A ‘Fury’ uncrewed combat aerial vehicle has completed a second exercise with the United States Air Force.
The exercise reportedly built on the foundation established at the first USAF Experimental Operations Unit exercise held in April this year.
That previous exercise showcased the launching, recovery and sustainment of the YFQ-44A for the first time.
“Last month, during our second exercise with the EOU at Creech Air Force Base, we took the next steps down the path to operational fielding of production FQ-44 fighters,” according to the company.
“The exercise increased the task complexity and expanded the responsibilities owned by Air Force personnel.
“EOU operators tasked the aircraft throughout the various stages of mission execution from multiple locations, demonstrating the disaggregated control required to reduce manpower requirements and turn CCA sorties from austere bases.
“Operational users also directly oversaw daily mission autonomy flights with YFQ-44A for the first time, using mission autonomy to execute operationally-relevant tactics and manoeuvres throughout the event.”
“A week of on-time, high-tempo flight operations — including multiple days with multiple sorties per day — is a testament to both the maturity of the aircraft and EOU operators’ increasing familiarity with the system. This latest EOU exercise is tangible evidence that the operational procedures and trust required to field FQ-44 at scale are taking shape.”
The event marked the first of the thousands of sorties that prototype YFQ-44A and production FQ-44 semi-autonomous fighter aircraft will fly out of Creech in the coming years, according to Anduril.
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