Commanded Autonomy Maneuvers Tested With Lockheed And Navy Systems

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) announced it completed a successful demonstration of its MQ-20 Avenger UAS to perform commanded autonomous maneuvers in a demonstration with the U.S. Navy (USN).

The Navy used its MD-5 Ground Control Station (GCS) along with Lockheed Martin’s MDCX autonomy platform to command and control the jet-powered aircraft. The GA-ASI team successfully performed the flight demo over a Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) datalink.

The USN’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation Program Office PMA-268 used the MQ-20 as a surrogate to show how its Mission Control Station can command a variety of unmanned aircraft. The MD-5 GCS was operated from the Patuxent River test facility in Maryland while the MQ-20 was flown out of GA-ASI’s flight ops facility in El Mirage, California.

This was the first time the MQ-20 completed bi-directional communications with the Navy’s MCS during autonomous flight. PLEO datalink was used for the procedure. The MQ-20 is used extensively as a surrogate testbed for development of UAS technology as part of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative.

David R. Alexander, President of GA-ASI said, “This effort was a prime example of industry partners and government agencies working together to perform important new capabilities. The team efficiently and safely demonstrated aircraft flight control from another government agency’s control station. Using GA-ASI’s Tactical Autonomy Core Ecosystem (TacACE) software, the team not only executed airborne commands, but did so in a safe, controlled environment.”

FMI:  www.ga-asi.com/