General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) has demonstrated interoperability between the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet and the MQ-20 Avenger drone in support of the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
The test paired the airborne MQ-20 with an F-35 on the ground, allowing the fighter’s pilot to relay commands to the unmanned aircraft through a tablet-based interface inside the cockpit.
The Avenger ran GA-ASI’s Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem software, aligned with the government’s autonomy reference architecture, enabling beyond-line-of-sight communications between the two platforms via a tactical proliferated low Earth orbit data link.
Read the full story on our new publication, The Drone Front: F-35 Directs MQ-20 Drone in New Collaborative Combat Aircraft Test
