Skyborg autonomy core system tested aboard UAV
NewsMay 07, 2021
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. The Skyborg leadership team announced that it conducted a flight test of the Skyborg autonomy core system (ACS) aboard a Kratos UTAP-22 tactical unmanned vehicle at Tyndall AFB, Florida.
Termed Milestone 1 of the Autonomous Attritable Aircraft Experimentation (AAAx) campaign, officials claim the ACS performed a series of foundational behaviors necessary to characterize safe system operation.
The team claims that the ACS demonstrated basic aviation capabilities and responded to navigational commands, while reacting to geo-fences, adhering to aircraft flight envelopes, and demonstrating coordinated maneuvering. It was monitored from both airborne and ground command and control stations.
Milestone 1 is the first step in testing the ACS and begins a sequence of experimentation events planned over the next several months and was the first time an active autonomy capability was demonstrated on an Air Force test range, and is a first step to integrating these aircraft into a complex operational environment, according to officials.
Follow on events will demonstrate direct manned-unmanned teaming between manned aircraft and multiple ACS-controlled unmanned aircraft.
