Autonodyne and F-35 Joint Program Office Execute Human-Machine Teaming With F-35 and MQ-20, Latest in Series of Autonomy Exercises

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A joint team comprised of the U.S. Air Force, Autonodyne, LLC, and the F-35 Joint Program Office Future Capabilities and Technology team – along with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin, the 309^th Software Engineering Group, the 461^st Flight Test Squadron (FTS), and the 370^th FTS – partnered to complete a Human-Machine Teaming (HMT) and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) datalink demonstration between a ground-based F-35 Lightning II and an airborne MQ-20 Avenger at Edwards Air Force Base, California, earlier this spring.

During this demonstration flight, Autonodyne’s Bashi tablet was used from the cockpit of the 5^th generation fighter aircraft to command the unmanned aerial vehicle, operating as a surrogate Combat Collaborative Aircraft (CCA), for a 3.5-hour flight. Autonodyne’s pilot vehicle interface enabled the F-35 pilot to send tactical commands from the cockpit for real-time execution.

This is the latest in a series of CCA flight exercises Autonodyne has participated in, with Bashi software contributing to similar HMT efforts from F-22 Raptor and F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft in recent months. These demonstration flights utilized a full operational system configuration, integrating the Bashi software, onboard Government Reference Architecture Compute Environment (GRACE), secure line-of-sight, BLOS, and Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA) protocols.

With initial system integration validated, the Air Force is shifting focus to expanded flight testing and the ongoing development of tactics, techniques, and procedures to HMT and the incorporation of other developmental CCA platforms, such as the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A.

Autonodyne will continue supporting CCA flight demonstrations with its interoperable, multi-domain technology as the Air Force’s program advances through 2026.

About Autonodyne, LLC

Autonodyne LLC is a Boston-based, privately held autonomy software company specializing in collaborative autonomy, manned-unmanned teaming, and autonomy architectures. Founded in 2014, Autonodyne has built a suite of interoperable platform-agnostic solutions to enable autonomy across domains and led industry development and implementation of A-GRA protocols. This includes command-and-control software, pilot vehicle interfaces, and collaborative mission autonomy designed for Group 1-5 unmanned air systems and collaborative combat aircraft. Autonodyne’s team brings expertise across defense, engineering, aviation, flight test, and software development.