# Anduril Fury [[Anduril]]'s jet-powered autonomous combat aircraft — officially designated YFQ-44A by the [[U.S. Air Force]]. One of two finalists for the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Increment I program, Fury is designed to fly alongside crewed fighters as an autonomous wingman. It's the first product rolling off the [[Arsenal-1]] production line, and the most ambitious hardware project Anduril has attempted. ## What It Does Fury is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T). It will operate as an autonomous wingman to crewed fighters — F-35 Lightning, F-22 Raptor, F-15EX Eagle II, and the planned Boeing F-47 — conducting air-to-air missions with varying levels of autonomy under human supervision via [[Anduril Lattice]]. ### Technical Specifications - **Speed:** Up to Mach 0.95 - **Ceiling:** 50,000 feet - **Maneuverability:** 9G maximum, 4.5G sustained at 20,000 feet - **Engine:** Single Williams FJ44-4M turbofan (4,000 lbs thrust) — a commercial turbine similar to those in private jets - **Weight:** 5,000 lbs maximum gross takeoff weight - **Design-to-flight timeline:** 365 days from clean-sheet design to first flight ## Key Milestones - **October 31, 2025:** First semi-autonomous flight. (Rival General Atomics' YFQ-42A "Dark Merlin" flew first on August 27, 2025.) - **March 24, 2026:** Serial production begins at [[Arsenal-1]] in Ohio. [[Palmer Luckey]] personally announced the milestone. - **FY2026:** Air Force production contract decision expected (Fury vs. Dark Merlin fly-off). - Anduril is also developing a **separate design** for a [[U.S. Navy]] CCA program — not adapting Fury but building a new aircraft. ## Manufacturing Fury is the flagship product of [[Arsenal-1]], Anduril's $1B manufacturing campus in Ohio. The speed of production — from concept to serial manufacturing in under two years — is central to Anduril's pitch that Silicon Valley can outpace legacy defense primes. The fact that ~90% of Anduril products use commercially available components (including Fury's commercial turbofan engine) is key to this speed. ## Contract Value The CCA program is expected to be worth billions in production contracts. The Air Force has not publicly disclosed per-unit cost targets, but the program's premise is autonomous wingmen that cost a fraction of crewed fighters ($20M-30M range vs. $80M+ for an F-35). ## Controversies 1. **Speed vs. safety:** Clean-sheet to first flight in 365 days is impressive but raises questions about testing adequacy. Traditional combat aircraft undergo years of testing before production. 2. **Autonomous combat decision-making:** An AI-controlled combat jet operating in contested airspace alongside human pilots raises profound questions about rules of engagement, IFF (identification friend or foe), and accountability for autonomous lethal decisions. 3. **Industrial competition:** Fury's production at Arsenal-1 is Anduril's most direct challenge to traditional defense primes. If the CCA contract goes to Anduril over General Atomics, it would be a watershed moment for the startup defense tech sector. ## See Also - [[Anduril Product Ecosystem]] — Master reference - [[Anduril]] — Company record - [[Arsenal-1]] — Manufacturing facility - [[Anduril Lattice]] — Software platform - [[Palmer Luckey]] - [[Autonomous Weapons Debate]] - [[Defense Tech as Asset Class]]