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AURORA, Colorado—The U.S. Air Force has begun a new phase in testing its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), conducting tests with the Anduril YFQ-44A carrying an inert weapon.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach announced the shift during a keynote address Feb. 23 at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Warfare Symposium here. The Anduril CCA is conducting integration and captive carry evaluations using an inert AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.

The tests evaluate the YFA-44A’s ability to carry external weapons, checking the aircraft’s structural integrity and aerodynamic performance. The other CCA in development for the Air Force’s first increment of CCA, the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. YFA-42A, carries weapons internally.

“We are following the same detailed approach used in every other aircraft developmental test program to validate structural performance, flight characteristics and safe separation,” Wilsbach said in an announcement. “This ensures the CCA can safely integrate inert weapons before future employment.”

Anduril, in announcing the first flight of its YFQ-44A in October 2025, said it had started weapons integration tests. Over 2026, the company expects to execute the first live shot of a weapon, followed by multi-ship mission autonomy and flight in conjunction with crewed fighters.

The Air Force announcement follows other weapons tests on similar aircraft. In December 2025, Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force conducted a live air-to-air missile test using an externally carried AIM-120 on the MQ-28 Ghost Bat against a drone target. The announcement came shortly after Turkey announced its Kizilelma uncrewed combat air vehicle fired a radar-guided air-to-air missile.