During the demonstration, U.S. Navy Air Vehicle Pilots at Patuxent River, Maryland, controlled the MQ-20’s live flight in California, utilizing MDCX™ capabilities to demonstrate seamless control beyond line-of-sight. This accomplishment underscores the Navy’s progress in developing a common control architecture for autonomous operations, a critical component for future integration of crewed and uncrewed aviation within the U.S. Department of Defense.

John Clark, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ Vice President and General Manager, highlighted the implications of this achievement: “MDCX allowed rapid integration of the MQ-20 ‘autonomy core’ with UMCS, showcasing interoperability and third-party platform integration.” David R. Alexander, President of GA-ASI, further emphasized the importance of the test in advancing autonomous military systems, adding, “This collaboration enhances the UMCS’s beyond-line-of-sight capabilities and validates the maturity of our Tactical Autonomy Core Ecosystem (TacACE).”

As a part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) initiative, this demonstration provides critical insights into refining UMCS technology and integrating autonomous capabilities within joint military forces. The U.S. Navy, alongside the Air Force and Marine Corps, is also developing a Tri-Service Memorandum of Understanding to ensure interoperability across platforms, allowing for enhanced crewed-uncrewed teaming.

Following this successful test, the Navy plans to conduct further demonstrations to advance command and control technologies and refine UMCS requirements, positioning itself at the forefront of uncrewed naval aviation.