Autonodyne, alongside the US Air Force and the F-35 Joint Program Office Future Capabilities and Technology team, has completed a Human-Machine Teaming (HMT) and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) datalink demonstration involving a ground-based F-35 Lightning II and an airborne MQ-20 Avenger at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The exercise brought together multiple partners, including General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin, the 309th Software Engineering Group, the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the 370th Flight Test Squadron. The demonstration marked another step forward in the development of autonomous systems designed to operate alongside crewed military aircraft and support future air combat operations.
During the flight, Autonodyne’s Bashi tablet was used from the cockpit of the fifth-generation fighter to command the MQ-20 Avenger, which operated as a surrogate Combat Collaborative Aircraft (CCA). Over a 3.5-hour mission, the system enabled the pilot to issue tactical commands that were executed in real time by the unmanned aircraft.
The demonstration represents the latest in a series of autonomy exercises involving Autonodyne’s technology. Bashi software has previously supported Human-Machine Teaming demonstrations conducted from F-22 Raptor and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.
The flights utilised a fully operational system configuration integrating Bashi software, the Government Reference Architecture Compute Environment (GRACE), secure line-of-sight and BLOS communications, and Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA) protocols.
With initial integration activities validated, the Air Force is focusing on expanded flight testing and developing tactics, techniques and procedures for future Human-Machine Teaming operations.
