General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has successfully demonstrated interoperability between the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and the MQ-20 Avenger drone as part of the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) initiative.
During the trial, the MQ-20 operated in flight while the F-35 remained on the ground, enabling the fighter pilot to issue commands to the unmanned aircraft through a tablet-style cockpit interface.
The Avenger drone was equipped with GA-ASI’s Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem software, which is designed to comply with the US government’s autonomy reference architecture. The setup enabled beyond-line-of-sight communication between the platforms using a tactical proliferated low Earth orbit data link.
