The look of things to come?
The sky will look differently in the future, with the ever increasing number of drones flying over the combat fields. Not just in air-to-ground reconnaissance or bombing roles, but even in the fighter role! Enter one of the unmanned fighter jets of the future: the YFQ-44 Fury. This aircraft was initially designed to be an aggressor, but has evolved into what is now called semiautonomous drone wingmen known as collaborative combat aircraft. It is set to be capable of flying at subsonic speeds, at altitudes of up to 15 km. To give you an idea of the size: it is rougly half the size of an
F-16; where the latter is 14,8 m long and 9,8 m wide, the YFQ-44 Fury is 6,1 m long, with a wing span of 5,2 m. The aircraft is now being tested on the ground, the first flying should be mid-2025. The YFQ-44 will be capable of carrying two AIM-120 AMRAAMs; considering that the missile is 3,66 meter long, that will be a BIG load for the tiny Fury… The US Air Force plans to operate about 100 of these Fury’s that will be based at Beale Air Force Base in California, today home of the U-2. With regards to the looks: if ever there was an unmanned jet that would look good with a shark mouth, this is it!
