An MQ-20 Avenger unmanned combat aerial vehicle equipped with artificial intelligence-based flight software successfully simulated an autonomous shootdown of live aircraft earlier this month, General Atomics (GA) and Shield AI said on Tuesday.
General Atomics said the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) demonstrated midair station keeping, autonomous decision-making, manned-unmanned teaming, live aircraft intercept of two aircraft, and a simulated missile shot against representative Group 5 UAS.
The testing in a live-virtual-constructive environment on June 11 included multiple live and virtual aircraft. The event occurred at GA’s flight facility in El Mirage, Calif.
The MQ-20 Avenger was equipped with a government reference autonomy architecture and Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomous pilot software.
The test also showcased the rapid transition of the government software to Hivemind in flight, with both performing similar profiles without affecting the aircraft or mission, GA said.
The company also said that using the shared reference architecture allows the government to choose autonomy pilot software from more vendors.
“This demonstrates how standardized reference architectures are streamlining hardware and software integration, even from different vendors,” GA’s Aeronautical Systems, Inc.’s (ASI) division said. GA-ASI makes the Avenger.
In addition to the MQ-20, Shield AI said its Hivemind software also commanded a digital twin of the UAS, “executing coordinated tasks across physical and virtual aircraft in a blended mission scenario.” The software also connected with command and control systems and edge systems, the company said.
The recent exercise with the second flight test of the MQ-20 equipped with Hivemind and the government’s reference architecture. The first was in February at the Air Force’s Orange Flag exercise (Defense Daily, March 4).
Hivemind has been integrated on a number of aircraft—including an Air Force F-16—to showcase scalability of the software across platforms.
GA-ASI uses the jet-powered MQ-20 as a testbed for autonomous collaborative platforms. The company and Anduril Industries are each developing autonomous air vehicles for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.