YFQ-44A completes second exercise with USAF experimental units at Creech Air Force Base

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Several weeks after Anduril formally presented the YFQ-44A in Ohio, the new combat drone has taken part in its second exercise with experimental U.S. Air Force (USAF) units at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. The activity broadened the duties entrusted to operational personnel and represented a further advance in readying the platform for future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) operations.

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The exercise was led by the Experimental Operations Unit (EOU), created to bring operational staff into the programme’s early phases. It is intended to assess employment concepts, mission planning, logistics and sustainment before CCAs progress towards operational deployment.

YFQ-44A takes on an expanded role during the exercise

In this second exercise, EOU operators took on increased responsibility throughout the various stages of mission execution. Staff controlled the aircraft from several locations, an arrangement designed to lower personnel requirements and allow CCA operations from bases with limited infrastructure.

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For the first time, operational users also oversaw daily autonomous YFQ-44A mission flights. This enabled the system to carry out tactics and manoeuvres linked to operational scenarios, supporting an assessment of its performance in more demanding employment conditions.

The exercise further evaluated whether operators could maintain a high operational tempo. Flight activity was scheduled across a week, with more than one sortie flown on several days, while personnel continued developing familiarity with the new system.

Operational personnel test the YFQ-44A

The second event followed on from the EOU’s first exercise in April. In that activity, operators were involved for the first time in launching, recovering and sustaining the YFQ-44A, a significant move towards shifting the aircraft from a prototype into a future combat capability.

The CCA programme advances towards Operational Capability

The U.S. Air Force regards trials involving operational users as a key element of the CCA programme. Such exercises enable the service to develop and confirm procedures before production-standard FQ-44 aircraft are introduced on a broader scale.

Creech Air Force Base is set to have an important part in the programme’s forthcoming phases. It was also the site where the drone completed its first operational testing last July. The YFQ-44A prototypes and future FQ-44 semi-autonomous combat aircraft are expected to carry out thousands of sorties. The base already has substantial experience in operating uncrewed aircraft, including through the 432nd Wing, which flies the MQ-9A Reaper.

The new YFQ-44A combat drone is part of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft concept, aimed at integrating uncrewed systems with crewed aircraft. Testing at Creech will assist in further defining the tactics, techniques and procedures needed for the system’s eventual incorporation into the USAF’s operational force.

Images courtesy of Anduril.