ASHVILLE, Ohio — Anduril Industries has unveiled the first YFQ-44A Fury autonomous combat aircraft manufactured at its new Arsenal-1 facility in Pickaway County, marking the start of production at the Ohio site roughly 18 months after the company announced plans for the project.
The aircraft, known as the YFQ-44A Fury, is the first product built at Arsenal-1 and is being produced for the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The unveiling took place on Monday, July 27, 2026, about 557 days after the company publicly announced the project in January 2025.
The YFQ-44A is designed to operate alongside crewed fighter aircraft as an autonomous "loyal wingman." According to Anduril, the aircraft is intended to perform missions considered too dangerous for human pilots, including scouting hostile airspace, operating in formation with fighter jets, and carrying out air combat missions.
John Malone, Anduril's head of production for autonomous airpower and the Fury program, said the aircraft is designed to increase combat capability by taking on higher-risk operations.
"It multiplies the force. So it goes into fights that are more dangerous than you want to put a piloted aircraft in," Malone said.
The first completed aircraft also pays tribute to Ohio's aviation heritage. Its rudder carries the Ohio state flag along with the phrase "Birthplace of Aviation."
Manufacturing Begins at Arsenal-1
The unveiling marks the beginning of active manufacturing at Arsenal-1, even as construction continues across parts of the campus. While the primary hangar used to assemble the aircraft is still being completed and another planned building remains under construction, production of the Fury is already underway.
Malone said building the first aircraft required months of collaboration between engineers, technicians and production teams. Early employees hired for the Ohio facility traveled to Anduril's California operations for assembly training before returning to Pickaway County to begin manufacturing.
He noted that the development process involved continuous learning and problem-solving as the team worked through technical challenges before completing the first production aircraft.
The facility currently employs about 140 workers across three production shifts, while the company continues hiring, with approximately 95 open positions listed.
Once fully staffed, Arsenal-1 is expected to produce up to 12 Fury aircraft per month, with annual production capacity projected at approximately 150 aircraft.
Anduril co-founder Matt Grimm said the company intends to rapidly expand production rather than follow traditional defense manufacturing timelines.
"We have no plans to do this slowly or by the old playbook," Grimm said during Monday's event.
U.S. Air Force Production Program
The Fury is being built under the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
In June 2026, the U.S. Air Force selected Anduril for the production phase of the program. Under the contract, the company will deliver an initial batch of FQ-44 aircraft for testing, validation and eventual operational use, while the agreement also allows for additional purchases in future years.
According to Anduril, the program progressed from a prototype award in 2024 to a production contract in 2026, which the company described as the fastest transition for a fighter aircraft program in more than 50 years.
Flight testing of the YFQ-44A began in late 2025, and the aircraft has undergone integration work involving mission autonomy software and inert munitions.
Ohio Leaders Highlight Aerospace Investment
The unveiling was attended by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, One Columbus President Jonas Peterson, and other state and local officials.
DeWine said Ohio's business environment helped support the project's rapid development and pointed to CNBC's recent ranking of Ohio as the top state for business climate. He said the state continues working to strengthen its aerospace and defense manufacturing sector and described Ohio as "the aerospace capital of the world."
Peterson said the Arsenal-1 project is expected to strengthen central Ohio's position as a destination for additional aerospace, defense and advanced technology companies.
Major Investment and Job Creation
Arsenal-1 is located on approximately 500 acres near Rickenbacker International Airport, about 30 minutes south of Columbus. The site is planned as a 5-million-square-foot hyperscale manufacturing campus designed with flexible production lines and movable workstations that allow manufacturing capacity to be adjusted as demand changes.
In addition to the Fury, the facility is expected to manufacture other Anduril systems, including Roadrunner and Barracuda.
To support the project, JobsOhio awarded Anduril $310 million in grants distributed over 10 years through 2035. The Ohio Department of Development's Tax Credit Authority also approved a 2.59% refundable Job Creation Tax Credit through 2055, which state officials estimate could provide more than $450 million in tax incentives.
In return, Anduril has committed to investing $910 million in the project and creating 4,008 jobs by 2035. State officials say this represents the largest single direct job creation commitment in Ohio's history, surpassing the previous record held by Intel.
Average annual salaries at the fully staffed facility are projected to exceed $132,000.
The completion of the first YFQ-44A Fury marks the beginning of serial production at Arsenal-1 and represents a key milestone in the expansion of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program as well as Ohio's growing aerospace manufacturing sector.
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