GA-ASI autonomous jet demo includes successful simulated shoot-down

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. completed a first-of-its-kind test involving multiple aircraft and advanced software that included a successful simulated autonomous shoot-down.

A GA-ASI-owned MQ-20 Avenger unmanned jet used the latest government reference autonomy software in an exercise involving multiple live and virtual aircraft, as well as software supplied by Shield AI.

Because software-defined mission capabilities are evolving so fast, aircraft hardware must be agnostic as to the origins of these upgrades. GA-ASI’s flights have underscored how compliance with what are called “government reference architectures” enables essential interoperability for hardware and software.

In the latest exercise, the MQ-20 Autonomous Collaborative Aircraft demonstrated that it could marshal, do dynamic midair station-keeping with several real aircraft; patrol a simulated combat area; make decisions autonomously; team with human command-and-control; and intercept two live aircraft autonomously, resulting in a simulated successful missile shot against the live targets.

The “live-on-live” event using representative Group 5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) proved how mature autonomy is today for future platforms.

“This event reflects the kind of interoperability and adaptability we believe is essential for future autonomy efforts,” said Michael Atwood, Vice President of Advanced Programs at GA-ASI. “Being able to rapidly integrate and test autonomy elements from multiple vendors helps ensure the most effective capabilities are available to the warfighter, regardless of origin.”

Another feature of the test was a mid-flight transition from the government-provided suite of software to Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software, which subsequently performed a similar mission profile. This rapid switch aboard the MQ-20 took place without affecting aircraft stability or mission continuity. This demonstrates how standardised reference architectures are streamlining hardware and software integration, even from different vendors.