An autonomous combat drone built by defense contractor Anduril has fired a live air-to-air missile for the first time, a milestone in the U.S. military's push toward robotic wingmen that fly alongside crewed fighter jets.
According to reporting via Bing News, Anduril's YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft launched an AIM-120 missile at a simulated target over the Mojave Desert on July 10. The report describes it as the first live-fire weapons test by a U.S. autonomous combat wingman, and the first such event in the history of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
Autoevolution reports that the U.S. Air Force and Anduril conducted the test together, calling it the first-ever live missile fire for the YFQ-44A.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, program is the Air Force's effort to field lower-cost, uncrewed aircraft designed to operate as autonomous partners to piloted planes. The idea is that these drones can carry weapons, sensors or other equipment, extending the reach of human-flown fighters while keeping pilots out of the most dangerous situations.
Until now, the YFQ-44A had not fired a weapon in a live test. Demonstrating that an autonomous aircraft can carry and launch a real air-to-air missile against a target is a key step toward proving the concept can work in combat rather than only in simulations.
Why it matters: the test signals that autonomous, weapon-carrying aircraft are moving from concept toward operational reality, raising both military capability questions and broader debates about how much decision-making should be handed to machines.