General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has carried out a successful interoperability demonstration linking the F-35 Lightning II with the MQ-20 Avenger unmanned aircraft in support of the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
The exercise connected an airborne MQ-20 drone with an F-35 fighter on the ground, allowing the pilot to control and transmit commands to the unmanned system through a tablet-based cockpit interface.
The MQ-20 utilized GA-ASI’s Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem software, developed in line with the government’s autonomy reference architecture. The technology enabled secure beyond-line-of-sight connectivity between the aircraft through a tactical proliferated low Earth orbit communications link.
