Overview
- Air Combat Command’s Experimental Operations Unit took full control of Anduril’s YFQ-44A at Edwards Air Force Base and ran daily sorties from a simulated forward site.
- Airmen used Anduril’s Menace-T and a rugged laptop to load mission plans, trigger autonomous taxi and takeoff, retask the aircraft in flight, and process post-flight data.
- The team kept the drone flying with a tiny setup that fit in two Pelican cases and a laptop, and only a handful of maintainers with days of training.
- Air Force photos showed the aircraft carrying inert AIM-120-style missiles under each wing, pointing to planned weapons roles.
- The trials came about six months after the jet’s first semi-autonomous flight, marking quick progress toward a large CCA fleet.