USAF EOU conducts experimental testing of Anduril Industries' YFQ-44A

A YFQ-44A takes off from the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California., during a Collaborative Combat Aircraft exercise. (US Air Force/Ariana Ortega)

The US Air Force's (USAF) Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) announced it conducted experimental testing of Anduril Industries' YFQ-44A at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The EOU is the unit tasked with creating the initial tactics, techniques, and procedures to integrate Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) into the USAF. The USAF selected Anduril Industries and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for its Increment 1 awards in April 2024, flying their YFQ-44A and YFQ-42A prototypes, respectively.

“When it comes to fielding any first-in-class capability, building the new technology itself is only part of the challenge,” Mark Shushnar, VP of Autonomous Airpower at Anduril Industries, said in a company statement. “Equally important is the work required to actually integrate it into a preexisting force structure: forging the tactics, techniques, and procedures necessary to make the new platform combat-ready alongside other assets.”

According to Shushnar, the YFQ-44A flew from Anduril Industries' Southern California test site to Edwards Air Force Base, where it was handed off to the EOU.

The EOU, paired with Air Force Material Command's 412 ^th Test Wing, flew the YFQ-44A through daily sorties, while launching, recovering, and turning the aircraft. Shushnar said the EOU also led “pre- and post-flight checks and clearances, weapons loading and unloading, and direct tasking of the air vehicle during taxi and flight”.

Anduril's Menace-T command, control, communications, and compute (C4) solution was used by EOU operators to “upload mission plans, initiate autonomous taxi and takeoff, task the aircraft while in flight, and manage post-flight data ingestion and checks”, all from the ground, according to Shushnar.