Overview

• Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said Anduril’s YFQ-44A should take its first flight in mid-October.
• Anduril and a U.S. Air Force official said the aircraft is fully built with multiple vehicles in ground testing and is in final pre-flight stages.
• Anduril opted to skip a ground control station and pursue push-button taxi, takeoff and landing, which executives said is driving schedule due to software integration.
• General Atomics’ YFQ-42A flew on Aug. 27 under human control as part of a crawl-walk-run approach, with semi-autonomy to be added after early flights.
• Breaking Defense reports RTX will provide autonomy for GA-ASI’s YFQ-42A and Shield AI for Anduril’s YFQ-44A, as the Air Force targets an Increment 1 production decision in FY2026.