Last month, defense startup Anduril announced that its Fury prototype, the YFQโ44A โdrone wingman,โ successfully made its first flight. The U.S. Air Forceโs Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program now has two flying prototypes (the other is General Atomicsโ YFQโ42A), and Andurilโs CEO has labeled the test a launch of โa new paradigmโ in air power. Designed as a fighter-sized unmanned aircraft, according to Anduril, the YFQโ44A can execute an entire mission plan independently, which includes managing flight control, weapons targeting and even returning to base.
In practical terms, this means the YFQโ44A flies largely on its own: Its onboard autonomy handles navigation, sensor analysis and โreturn-to-baseโ commands with minimal human input. The company emphasizes that a human operator remains responsible for oversight and able to intervene or abort missions but
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