MIflyer
Captain
From Flight Journal:
"California-based defense tech firm Anduril Industries has reached a major milestone in the evolution of autonomous military aviation with the successful initial test flights of its Fury fighter jet, a semi-autonomous aircraft with no cockpit and no pilot on board. Officially designated the YFQ-44A, Fury is part of the U.S. Air Force's emerging Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which aims to pair unmanned platforms with crewed fighters to extend mission capabilities in reconnaissance, surveillance, and both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat."
"The first test flight marked the culmination of less than two years of design and development work. Anduril's rapid progress puts it squarely in competition with other defense contractors pursuing similar concepts, such as General Atomics and its experimental XQ-67A platform. The Fury program itself traces some of its roots to Blue Force Technologies, a North Carolina-based firm acquired by Anduril in 2023, whose early work on the aircraft was folded into Anduril's broader autonomous systems strategy."
"Unlike remotely piloted aircraft, Fury is designed to take off, navigate a mission, and land autonomously, with a human operator on the ground providing oversight rather than direct control. That operator can monitor the flight, issue mission updates, and must authorize any lethal actions, such as the release of weapons. Onboard, Fury carries a fully integrated sensor and weapon system that is engineered to identify targets and respond within the constraints of human-authorized directives, enhancing both survivability and effectiveness as part of a mixed team of crewed and uncrewed systems."
"Technically, the YFQ-44A is a compact yet capable jet. At around 6.1 meters (20 feet) long with a 5.2-meter (17-foot) wingspan and a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds), it is roughly half the size of an F-16 Fighting Falcon. Power comes from a single Williams FJ44-4M turbofan, producing about 4,000 pounds of thrust, enabling the aircraft to fly at high-subsonic speeds up to Mach 0.95. The design targets a service ceiling near 50,000 feet and estimated G-capabilities of around 4.5 G at 20,000 feet, with structural capability up to 9 G under certain flight conditions—impressive performance for an uncrewed platform of its size."
I suppose that it is simply a coincidence that the intake is so well positioned to be painted with shark's teeth.
The USAAF/USAF has lagged rather far behind the USN and even the CIA when it came to "uncrewed" aircraft. Maybe they are waking up.
"California-based defense tech firm Anduril Industries has reached a major milestone in the evolution of autonomous military aviation with the successful initial test flights of its Fury fighter jet, a semi-autonomous aircraft with no cockpit and no pilot on board. Officially designated the YFQ-44A, Fury is part of the U.S. Air Force's emerging Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which aims to pair unmanned platforms with crewed fighters to extend mission capabilities in reconnaissance, surveillance, and both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat."
"The first test flight marked the culmination of less than two years of design and development work. Anduril's rapid progress puts it squarely in competition with other defense contractors pursuing similar concepts, such as General Atomics and its experimental XQ-67A platform. The Fury program itself traces some of its roots to Blue Force Technologies, a North Carolina-based firm acquired by Anduril in 2023, whose early work on the aircraft was folded into Anduril's broader autonomous systems strategy."
"Unlike remotely piloted aircraft, Fury is designed to take off, navigate a mission, and land autonomously, with a human operator on the ground providing oversight rather than direct control. That operator can monitor the flight, issue mission updates, and must authorize any lethal actions, such as the release of weapons. Onboard, Fury carries a fully integrated sensor and weapon system that is engineered to identify targets and respond within the constraints of human-authorized directives, enhancing both survivability and effectiveness as part of a mixed team of crewed and uncrewed systems."
"Technically, the YFQ-44A is a compact yet capable jet. At around 6.1 meters (20 feet) long with a 5.2-meter (17-foot) wingspan and a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds), it is roughly half the size of an F-16 Fighting Falcon. Power comes from a single Williams FJ44-4M turbofan, producing about 4,000 pounds of thrust, enabling the aircraft to fly at high-subsonic speeds up to Mach 0.95. The design targets a service ceiling near 50,000 feet and estimated G-capabilities of around 4.5 G at 20,000 feet, with structural capability up to 9 G under certain flight conditions—impressive performance for an uncrewed platform of its size."
I suppose that it is simply a coincidence that the intake is so well positioned to be painted with shark's teeth.
The USAAF/USAF has lagged rather far behind the USN and even the CIA when it came to "uncrewed" aircraft. Maybe they are waking up.
