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U.S. military first: Fighter jet commands huge drone in flight

[Image courtesy of Lockheed Martin]

 

 

During a recent flight out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, a USAF F-22 Raptor pilot successfully used an open interface in the cockpit to send mission control directions to another airborne uncrewed aerial system (UAS). The test was conducted by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, with industry partners General Atomics and L3Harris Technologies and the U.S. Air Force. It turned the cockpit into a command hub for drone wingmen.

"This effort represents Skunk Works driving a breakthrough in air combat capability, where single-seat aircraft command and control drones with simple and intuitive interfaces in the cockpit," said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

The F-22 pilot used a pilot vehicle interface (PVI) to command the drone to execute a specific mission profile. The PVI represents a flexible system to provide integration-ready capabilities for both current and future platforms.

This event demonstrated human-machine teaming capabilities and the future of air combat. Lockheed Martin has been focused on the transformative power of autonomous and AI-enabled operations in crewed and uncrewed systems for years, with particular focus on integrating autonomous drones with the F-22 and F-35.

The drone was a General Atomics GA-ASI MQ-20 Avenger unmanned jet. General Atomics said, "The effort integrated L3Harris' BANSHEE Advanced Tactical Datalinks with its Pantera software-defined radios (SDRs) via Lockheed Martin's open radio architectures, all integrated and shared from an F-22 Raptor."

With a wingspan of 76 ft and filled with serious warfighting capabilities, the MQ-20 Avenger is the successor to the Predator drone. [Image courtesy of General Atomics]

 

 

The MQ-20 is a successor to the Predator drone. It is large: 44 ft long with an updated wingspan of 76 ft. Its max payload is 6,500 lb, and weapons include Hellfire missiles, Paveway II (GBU-12), and JDAMs (GBU-38). It can fly for 20+ hours nonstop at altitudes greater than 50,000 ft. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545B turbofan engine that can produce 5,000 lb of thrust. Max speed is >400 KTAS (true airspeed). The high-speed, multi-mission craft is a long-endurance, medium-to-high-altitude Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) system "that can perform wide-area surveillance, time-sensitive strike missions over land or sea, and a host of other challenging military or civilian missions."

The collaborative demonstration showcased non-proprietary, U.S. government-owned communications capabilities and the ability to fly, transition, and re-fly flight hardware that is core to the Open Mission Systems and skills-based unmanned autonomy ecosystem.

In an earlier, June 2025 exercise, an 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. This exercise involved on-ground control of the aircraft, though.

According to General Atomics, that test "offered meaningful implications for the future of autonomy development. By adhering to a shared reference architecture, this model supports a flexible autonomy 'app store' concept. It allows the government to incorporate capabilities from a broad vendor ecosystem without being tied to any single supplier. It promotes modularity, supports ongoing innovation, and enables more rapid deployment of autonomy features that align with the speed and agility often seen in commercial software development."

This flight event and other ongoing evaluations are crucial steps in realizing the Air Force's family of systems vision. Human-machine teaming enhances situational awareness, interoperability, survivability, and flexibility, unlocking a significant advantage for the U.S. Air Force. By integrating the F-22 with other advanced systems, the capabilities of our warfighters are multiplied, with the goal of ensuring American airpower dominance.

Only the United States uses the F-22 Raptor. The plane and its advanced technology are banned by U.S. law from export.

Sources: Lockheed Martin, General Atomics

Published December 2025

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