F-22 conducts its first aerial command of unmanned combat aircraft, and the tactical chain issued an order to bring 500 aircraft online in 2032

The U.S. Air Force recently completed the first test of an F-22 Raptor fighter jet commanding a YFQ-44A Fury drone in the air. (DVIDS)

[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] The U.S. Air Force has made significant progress in manned and unmanned collaborative combat technology. It recently completed the first test of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet commanding the YFQ-44A Fury unmanned fighter jet in the air. The F-22 pilot issued instructions to the drone through the tactical data link, and the onboard autonomous software performed flight maneuvers and simulated combat tasks in real time. This achievement also lays the foundation for the future deployment of cooperative combat aviation vehicles (CCA) by the US military.

The military news website "The War Zone" reported that the U.S. Air Force and Anduril announced that they had recently completed the first air tactical control demonstration of the F-22 and the pre-production YFQ-44A. Anduril confirmed that this is the first time that the F-22 has directly commanded the Fury drone during flight, unlike previous tests in which the F-35 only flew in formation with the drone.

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According to Anduril's explanation, during the flight, the F-22 pilot transmitted the updated mission plan to the drone from the cockpit through the tactical data link, and then the YFQ-44A autonomous system interpreted the instructions to perform dynamic flight maneuvers and simulated combat missions.

It is worth noting that the U.S. Air Force has not yet announced the specific modifications of the F-22. Past budget documents have mentioned that the F-22 may need to integrate tablet computers, cables and related equipment to perform drone control tasks. In the future, the US military hopes that a single F-22 can manage multiple CCAs at the same time, but how to avoid increasing the operational burden on single-seat fighter pilots is still a problem that must be solved.

The U.S. Air Force has currently ordered Anduril's FQ-44A Fury and General Atomics' FQ-42A Vengeance drones according to the first phase of the CCA program. It aims to establish at least 500 first-phase CCA fleets by 2032, and plans to put the first batch of drones into combat service around the end of this century.

In fact, Anduril completed the first test of the Fury drone firing the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) earlier this year, and last month also demonstrated a YFQ-44A flying in formation with an F-35 fighter jet. General Atomics used the MQ-20 "Avenger" drone in November 2025 to conduct F-22 control technology verification.

In addition, the US military expects to have Fury and Vengeance participate in the "Emerald Flag" large-scale exercise for the first time in December this year to verify the collaborative capabilities of CCA and manned fighter jets in a more realistic combat environment.

The U.S. Air Force pointed out that in addition to tactical control technology, CCA will need to establish operating procedures different from traditional manned fighter aircraft in terms of deployment, launch, recovery and logistical support in the future. Whether pilots can trust unmanned wingmen to perform tasks autonomously will also be an important issue.