First time: an F-22 pilot gave in-flight commands to the unmanned YFQ-44A Fury fighter – the Raptor as the CCA “quarterback”

An F-22 Raptor fighter pilot has given in-flight commands to an unmanned Anduril YFQ-44A Fury, as part of the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme. The Air Force announcement on Friday, October 16, says the demonstration of tactical command and control of the YFQ-44A from an F-22 took place earlier in the month. An Anduril spokesperson confirmed to TWZ that this is the first time an F-22 has done this with a pre-production YFQ-44A.

“During the demonstration, an F-22 pilot acted as an airborne ‘quarterback’, giving high-level tactical instructions to a YFQ-44A. The aircraft’s autonomy software interpreted and executed those instructions in real time, performing dynamic manoeuvres and simulated combat tasks,” the Air Force said. According to Anduril, the Fury and the F-22 took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California in the week of October 5 and met in the air. The Raptor pilot sent the Fury an updated mission plan over a tactical datalink and guided it through operationally relevant manoeuvres. The mission lasted several hours.

“This achievement shows what is possible when we are aligned with industry on a common goal: delivering capability to warfighters at unprecedented speed,” said Air Force Secretary Troy Meink. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach said the flight “demonstrates the power of manned–unmanned teaming”. The test involved the 412th Test Wing, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, the 309th Software Engineering Group, the Experimental Operations Unit and the F-22 programme office. Neither the Air Force nor Anduril revealed how the F-22 was configured for the test.

Mark Sachsner, Anduril’s vice president for autonomous air power, said the US CCA programme is “the fastest and most mature in the world” and will be the first to field operational aircraft, adding that trust must be built between operators and their semi-autonomous “wingmen”. The US Air Force has reportedly ordered Anduril’s FQ-44A and General Atomics’ FQ-42A Vengeance under the first phase (Increment 1) and is aiming for at least 500 aircraft by 2032, at a cost of up to about $20 million each. F-22s will be the first to test the use of CCAs, with the aim that each pilot will eventually control several unmanned aircraft.

The Fury had already flown in formation with F-35s and fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile for the first time in 2026, and the two CCAs will take part in the large Emerald Flag exercise in December. Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue also recently made its first flight.