The U.S. Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) is focused on involving operational Air Force personnel at an early stage to support experimentation with concepts of employment, mission planning, logistics and sustainment required to accelerate the operational fielding of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).
Four months ago, EOU operators launched, recovered and sustained the YFQ-44A for the first time, marking an important step in advancing CCA from prototype development toward combat capability. During the second exercise with the EOU at Creech Air Force Base, the program took further steps toward the operational fielding of production FQ-44 fighters.
The exercise increased task complexity and expanded the responsibilities assigned to Air Force personnel. EOU operators tasked the aircraft throughout different stages of mission execution from multiple locations, demonstrating the disaggregated control required to reduce manpower requirements and enable CCA sorties from austere bases.
Operational users also directly oversaw daily mission autonomy flights with the YFQ-44A for the first time. Using mission autonomy, the aircraft executed operationally relevant tactics and manoeuvres throughout the event.
The exercise built on the foundation established during the first EOU exercise in April and again demonstrated the YFQ-44A’s ease of operation, maintenance and sustainment.
A week of on-time, high-tempo flight operations, including multiple days with multiple sorties per day, demonstrated the maturity of the aircraft and the increasing familiarity of EOU operators with the system. The latest EOU exercise also provided evidence that the operational procedures and trust required to field the FQ-44 at scale are taking shape.
Regular testing and experimentation with operational end users remain central to the CCA program’s approach to rapidly delivering a combat-capable system. The event marked the first of the thousands of sorties that prototype YFQ-44A and production FQ-44 semi-autonomous fighter aircraft are expected to conduct from Creech in the coming years, adding to the legacy of an installation that has been at the centre of the Air Force’s uncrewed aircraft enterprise for decades.
The program will continue working with Air Force operators through future exercises, with each event representing a further step in the transition from prototype development to operational capability.
