[REVISION HISTORY]

US Air Force AI‑enabled aircraft program

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What changed

2026-08-04 16:16 UTC → 2026-08-07 15:53 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In July 2026 the Air Force demonstrated AI‑driven autonomy on modified F‑16s, culminating in the first fully autonomous flight of a VENOM‑equipped aircraft. The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) effort then moved into production. On 17 June 2026 the service awarded a production contract to General Atomics for the FQ‑42A “Dark Merlin,” marking the start of series production of the Air Force’s first purpose‑built uncrewed fighter. The next day contracts were also signed with Anduril for the FQ‑44 “Fury,” accelerating the CCA program to low‑rate production ahead of schedule. The Air Force budget requests $1.1 billion for CCA production and $1.4 billion for R&D, targeting 150‑plus combat‑capable wingmen by 2029 and a long‑term fleet of up to 1,000 units. A parallel software competition selected six firms—including Anduril, Collins Aerospace and Shield AI—to develop open‑architecture autonomy under the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture, with a primary supplier expected by mid‑2027. In July 2026 Anduril’s YFQ‑44A “Fury” performed the first live‑fire test, launching an AIM‑120 missile autonomously at a digital target while a human operator retained the release authority. The same month Anduril moved the FQ‑44 into serial production at the Arsenal‑1 facility, capable of delivering up to 150 aircraft per year. DARPA and the Air Force continued AI integration on legacy fighters: an AI‑piloted F‑16 equipped with the VENOM Autonomy Kit completed its first autonomous flight on 24 July 2026, followed by a series of tests that included 27 live intercepts against a T‑38 target in early August. ~~These milestones advance~~ New details released in August describe an eight‑sortie campaign on the ~~AIR effort~~ X‑62 VISTA platform at Edwards AFB, where an AI agent using a Legion pod and IRST21 sensor closed the sensor‑to‑action loop to ~~embed~~ achieve 27 autonomous ~~agents across both new unmanned wingmen and retrofitted manned platforms.~~ intercepts.

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