General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
finished a first-of-its-kind test including multiple airplane and advanced software application on June 11 that included a successful simulated self-governing shoot-down.
A GA-ASI-owned MQ-20 Avenger unmanned jet used the current government reference autonomy software application in an exercise involving numerous live and virtual airplane along with software provided by Shield AI.Because software-defined mission capabilities are developing so fast, its critical that airplane hardware be agnostic as to the origins of these upgrades.
GA-ASIs flights have underscored how compliance with what are called federal government reference architectures makes it possible for vital interoperability for hardware and software.In the latest workout, the MQ-20 Autonomous Collaborative Aircraft showed that it might marshal; do dynamic midair station-keeping with numerous real airplane; patrol a simulated combat location; make decisions autonomously; group with human command-and-control; and intercept 2 live aircraft autonomously resulting in a simulated successful missile shot against the live targets.The live-on-live occasion utilizing representative Group 5 unmanned aerial lorries (UAVs) proved how mature autonomy is today for future platforms.This event reflects the type of interoperability and flexibility our company believe is vital 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 numerous vendors helps make sure the most efficient abilities are offered to the warfighter, despite origin.Another feature of the test was a mid-flight transition from the government-provided suite of software to Shield AIs Hivemind autonomy software, which subsequently carried out a comparable objective profile.
This rapid switch aboard the MQ-20 occurred without impacting aircraft stability or objective continuity.
This demonstrates how standardized recommendation architectures are improving hardware and software integration, even from various vendors.The test used meaningful implications for the future of autonomy development.
By sticking to a shared referral architecture, this model supports a versatile autonomy app store principle.
It allows the federal government to incorporate capabilities from a broad vendor community without being tied to any single supplier.
It promotes modularity, supports ongoing innovation, and allows more fast implementation of autonomy features that line up with the speed and agility typically seen in commercial software development.GA-ASI has proven all this over a series of groundbreaking test occasions.
The most recent on June 11 highlighted the capability of the governments reference architecture to reduce integration timelines, avoid supplier lock-in and enable flexible autonomy options that can scale and adapt as objective needs evolve.Source: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.