Anduril’s YFQ-44 “Fury” drone on display at the Salon du Bourget airshow in Paris in June 2025. The drone, now known as the FQ-44, is set to enter regular production. (Wikimedia Commons/Artvill)

Anduril and General Atomics Just Officially Won the Air Force’s Drone Contract

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It appears that the Air Force will begin to use both the FQ-42 and FQ-44 drones, rather than choosing one over the other.

The United States Air Force recently announced that both companies competing for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) contract will see their respective platforms move to the production stage. Two years ago, Anduril Industries and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) were selected to develop prototypes, with the firms’ unmanned aerial systems (UAS) being chosen over competing offerings from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.

In March 2025, Anduril’s “Fury” received the designation YFQ-44, and GA-ASI’s XQ-67A, part of its “Gambit” series of drones, was designated the YFQ-42 Dark Merlin. Both platforms underwent ground and initial flight testing last year, and each will now advance to the initial production phase under the CCA’s Increment 1.

With their entry into production, the “Y” designation, indicating a prototype aircraft, will be dropped from the names of both drones, leaving them as the FQ-42 and FQ-44.

Although the United States Air Force previously announced that it could field upwards........

© The National Interest