On November 13, 2023, during a live flight demonstration, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) showcased its open standards-based autonomy ecosystem for Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs), which is independent of hardware, on a GA-ASI MQ-20 Avenger. L3Harris Technologies supplied the flight with three software-defined radios (SDRs) that facilitated data transfer, command and control, and Line-of-Sight (LOS) functionality through Waveform X.
An L3Harris Pantera SDR was incorporated into the MQ-20 unmanned aircraft, while a second L3Harris SDR, BANSHEE 2, operated in conjunction with the first on the ground as an IP-based mesh network for the Mission Control Element. The exhibition featured Waveform X, a communications capability owned by the non-proprietary U.S. government, and the capability to operate flight hardware by flipping, flying, and flying within the Open Mission Systems (OMS) framework and skills-based unmanned autonomy.
The flight demonstrated the capability of swiftly plugging and playing together autonomous unmanned technologies from the United States Navy and the United States Air Force (USAF). In addition, it used autonomy from three distinct sources: human-machine interface (HMI) hardware supplied by the government, the autonomy core of GA-ASI, and Waveform X to orchestrate these components.
By using a combination of Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) entities, the Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, and Assess (F2T2EA) engagement chain was completed, and multiple objectives for collaborative combat missions were accomplished through the use of autonomy skills. The flight at the Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility of GA-ASI in El Mirage, California, exemplifies the organisation’s dedication to advancing forthcoming Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) technologies by using the MQ-20 as a flying test platform.
Michael Atwood, vice president of advanced programmes at GA-ASI, stated that this mission demonstrates the organisation’s dedication to validating the combat operational readiness of defence contractor products, including L3Harris’ Pantera and BANSHEE 2 radios, in addition to an open, vendor-agnostic autonomy architecture for unmanned aerial vehicle (UCAV) platforms. By integrating USAF and Navy software expertise, this most recent test demonstrates the multi-service compatibility of the autonomy core, he continued, bringing us one step closer to a government-owned, skills-based interservice ecosystem for ACPs.
An additional significant objective of GA-ASI’s flights is to showcase the organisation’s dedication to establishing an open government standards-based autonomy ecosystem, which facilitates the swift integration and verification of tactical software applications developed by third parties. GA-ASI supports the developing model of government-managed App Stores, which enables organisations to swiftly deploy and develop software without compromising flight safety or denying warfighters access to the most recent industry capabilities.
