F-22 Pilot Directly Controls Drone Wingman In Landmark Test

General Atomics said the test took place on Oct. 21 at the Nevada Test and Training Range as part of company-funded research and development efforts involving Lockheed Martin and L3Harris.

F-22 and MQ-20

The drone was equipped with advanced autonomy software to act as a surrogate for future combat airframes.

“The MQ-20 Avenger, tricked out with mature mission autonomy software, is a perfect CCA surrogate and allows us to move fast and move first,” company spokesman C. Mark Brinkley said.

He added that the F-22 “will play a critical role” in crewed-uncrewed teaming and that the company is positioned to advance the capability immediately. The demonstration is one of several planned as industry races to mature technologies aimed at pairing stealth fighters with autonomous aircraft.

New Architectures

The effort used Lockheed Martin’s open radio architecture to integrate software-defined radios from L3Harris, allowing communications between the drone and the fighter. One radio was installed on the MQ-20 and the other on the F-22, enabling control through a tablet mounted in the Raptor’s single-seat cockpit.

CCA Program

General Atomics and Anduril are under contract for the first stage of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which aims to field autonomous wingmen alongside fighters.

GA is flying the MQ-20 as an integration platform while offering its YFQ-42A for the competition, with autonomy suites under development by multiple companies.

Service leaders have said they expect several firms to be carried into production for the initial round, with decisions on future conceptual designs due soon.