General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) recently demonstrated its autonomy ecosystem for unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) during a live flight test with an MQ-20 Avenger. The flight combined three autonomy providers, government-provided human-machine interface (HMI) hardware, and GA-ASI’s autonomous core to accomplish multiple objectives for collaborative combat operations and complete the F2T2EA (Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, and Assess) chain of engagement with a mix of live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) units.
Developing the system based on government-owned technologies avoids vendor lock-in and allows for the integration of best-of-breed capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), HMIs and other third-party capabilities. GA-ASI Vice President of Advanced Programs, Michael Atwood, emphasized: “This latest test demonstrates the compatibility of the autonomous core with multiple services through the integration of US Air Force and Navy software capabilities.” Another important goal of the flights has been to demonstrate the autonomy ecosystem. This enables rapid integration and validation of third-party tactical software applications. In the future, GA-ASI will also support an emerging model based on the App Store that enables organizations to rapidly develop and deploy software while ensuring flight safety and ensuring forces always have access to the industry’s best capabilities. https://militaeraktuell.at/eurofighter-briten-lassen-tranche-1-auslaufen/ The autonomy capabilities for the recent flight test were provided by GA-ASI, Scientific Systems Company (SSCI) and the NAVAIR PMA-281 ARCANE (Architecture and Capabilities for Autonomy in Naval Enterprise) team. The PMA-281 ARCANE team is responsible for integrating intelligent autonomy and artificial intelligence, as well as meeting and sustaining objectives for tactical UAV missions by naval aviators. The aircraft’s various capabilities were enabled based on the F2T2EA phase or via human-machine interaction using the FOX tablet HMI. A government-provided autonomous core and Open Mission Systems (OMS) messaging protocols were used to coordinate between the vendors’ capabilities during the different F2T2EA phases. The collaborative mission autonomy capabilities provided by SSCI resulted in a fully autonomous multi-vehicle defensive counter air (DCA) mission. Targets were recognized, identified and tracked. Several successful engagements were also conducted. “Our Collaborative Mission Autonomy (CMA) development kit allows the team to develop and integrate in short time frames in a tactically relevant manner,” said David “Heat” Lyons, SSCI’s vice president of business development and former F-16 weapons officer and fighter pilot. “For the fighter pilot, we are demonstrating mission-ready behavior of GA-ASI’s UCAV that is trustworthy, understandable and explainable.”
