An F-35 Lightning II pilot despatched tactical autonomy instructions by way of a pill to the MQ-20 Avenger as a part of a current Manned-Unmanned Teaming demonstration.
Common Atomics Aeronautical Programs introduced that its MQ-20 Avenger drone has been lastly paired with the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, after a sequence of exams with the F-22 Raptor. The corporate didn’t disclose when the Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) demonstration occurred.
The check was carried out in collaboration with the F-35 Joint Program Workplace, 309th Software program Engineering Group, 461st Flight Take a look at Squadron, 370th Flight Take a look at Squadron, Lockheed Martin, and Autonodyne. The MQ-20 was geared up with GA-ASI’s TacACE (Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem) software program, which relies on the Autonomy Authorities Reference Structure (A-GRA).
As in earlier exams, the MQ-20 acted as a surrogate Collaborative Fight Plane (CCA), serving to to speed up the introduction of the brand new platforms within the U.S. Air Drive. GA-ASI is at present producing and testing the YFQ-42A CCA for the Increment 1 of this system.
The corporate says the demonstration CCA’s and F-35’s capability to make use of a tactical proliferated low Earth orbit knowledge hyperlink to perform seamless coordination. Particularly, the F-35 pilot used a pill within the cockpit to ship tactical autonomy instructions.
These instructions have been relayed to the MQ-20’s TacACE software program and transmitted to the MQ-20 by way of Past Line of Sight (BLOS) communications. Notably, the corporate mentioned the F-35 was on the bottom when the pilot despatched the instructions.
It’s unclear if the fighter then joined the MQ-20 in flight. Within the earlier exams with the F-22 Raptor the corporate didn’t explicitly point out that the manned plane was on the bottom.
The corporate additional defined that the F-35 and MQ-20 demonstration validated the {hardware}, software program, networks, and different programs required by MUM-T. “The MQ-20 efficiently exchanged crucial autonomous responses with the F-35, and the F-35 was capable of ship autonomy instructions to the MQ-20 by way of a Bashi Pilot Car Interface, directing the MQ-20 to execute tactical maneuvers, regulate waypoints, and cross ADS-B monitor knowledge to the F-35,” talked about the assertion.
The Bashi PVI, produced by Autonodyne, was additionally beforehand utilized by the F-22 to manage the MQ-20. The tablet-based system has been described as platform agnostic, because it was constructed on open and authorities architectures, permitting a fast integration of the fighter jets.
“This vital warfighter integration milestone is the start of operational readiness for the Collaborative Fight Plane and demonstrates the near-term alternatives for pressure integration,” mentioned Michael Atwood, vice chairman of Superior Packages. “Occasions like these drive residence GA-ASI’s continued dedication to adoption of next-generation knowledge hyperlinks, mission autonomy, and unmanned air fight operations.”
The current exams are one more step in the direction of the event of Collaborative Fight Plane (CCA), unmanned programs designed to function alongside piloted fighters as pressure multipliers in what was known as, till a number of years in the past, a “loyal wingman state of affairs”. On this position, autonomous plane just like the MQ-20 can lengthen sensor protection, enhance survivability, and perform missions that may in any other case place the lifetime of human pilots in danger.
It was not sudden for the F-22 to be a part of nearly all of the MUM-T check missions. In fac, the F-22 is the so-called “threshold platform” for CCA, because the U.S. Air Drive plans to initially pair the CCAs solely with the F-22 Raptor.
The service can be contemplating F-35As, F-16s, F-15Es and F-15EXs as future platform to be built-in with the CCAs. In the meantime, because the testing of the YFQ-42 and YFQ-44 progresses, the MQ-20 Avenger has been used as a surrogate CCA platform for greater than 5 years.
Earlier exams
Earlier this 12 months, the U.S. Air Drive and Common Atomics Aeronautical Programs carried out an autonomy demonstration involving an F-22 Raptor geared up with the most recent authorities reference autonomy software program and MQ-20 Avenger unmanned plane. The check occurred out of Edwards Air Drive Base, California, and targeted on validating MUM-T with the 2 platforms.
The pilot aboard the F-22 acted as command plane, issuing instructions to the MQ-20. The drone, which acted as a CCA surrogate, acquired and executed these instructions, demonstrating its capability to function in coordination with a crewed fighter in a practical operational state of affairs.
The demonstration additionally validated the power of the 2 plane to alternate data by way of tactical knowledge hyperlink. Utilizing the Autonodyne Bashi Pilot Car Interface (PVI), the F-22 was capable of ship autonomy tasking on to the MQ-20, directing it to carry out tactical maneuvers, regulate waypoints, fly Fight Air Patrol profiles, and execute simulated risk engagement duties.
The same check, was carried out final 12 months. On Oct. 21, 2025, an F-22 and an MQ-20 cooperated to show the mixing of L3Harris’ BANSHEE Superior Tactical Datalinks with its Pantera software-defined radios (SDRs) by way of Lockheed Martin’s open radio architectures, all built-in and shared from the Raptor.
As defined in our earlier article, the F-22 pilot took command of the MQ-20 in flight utilizing a PVI on a pill and the F‑22’s GRACE (Authorities Reference Structure Compute Setting) module. The latter is a brand new software program being built-in on the Raptor, which might permit “non-traditional F-22 software program” to be put in on the plane and supply “extra processing and pilot interfaces.”
