An Anduril Industries logo is seen at the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

By David Jeans

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Anduril's jet-powered drone flew for the first time on Friday, the company and the U.S. Air Force said, marking a significant step for the defense tech company's drone ambitions.

The Los Angeles-based company, which won an Air Force contract last year to produce a prototype drone that could serve as a "loyal wingman" alongside fighter jets, demonstrated the drone’s flight at a California-based testing site, the Air Force said.

The flight marks the latest step forward in the Air Force's plans to field a swarm of unmanned jet-powered drones, as the Pentagon prepares for a future potential conflict in the Pacific fought largely with autonomous systems.

“This milestone demonstrates how competition drives innovation and accelerates delivery,” Troy Meink, secretary of the Air Force, said in a statement.

DRONE FLEW SEMI-AUTONOMOUSLY

The drone, known as YFQ-44A, which looks like a miniature fighter jet without windows, was flown “semi-autonomously,” according to Anduril executive Jason Levin, who oversees engineering. He said in a press statement that the drone could manage its own flight controls and throttle adjustment without a human command, and could land “at the push of a button.”

“There is no operator with a stick and throttle flying the aircraft behind the scenes,” Levin said.

In April 2024, the Air Force awarded Anduril a contract alongside General Atomics to build competing prototype "loyal wingman" drones with autonomous capabilities. Over the summer, General Atomics announced that it had flown its own Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone, the YFQ-42A, and said its model had also flown semi-autonomously.

The Air Force is expected to announce a new contract for a second increment of CCA drones, and is fielding proposals from 20 companies, the trade publication Breaking Defense previously reported. Last week, another Silicon Valley-backed company, Shield AI, announced that it was developing its own CCA-style aircraft, known as the X-BAT.

In the meantime, Anduril said it plans to ramp up production of its CCA drone, with manufacturing of the prototype expected to start next year at a facility in Ohio.

(Reporting by David Jeans in New YorkEditing by Rod Nickel)