The U.S Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has revealed that its Skyborg autonomy core
system, or ACS, successfully completed a flight with a General Atomics Avenger unmanned vehicle
at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The Skyborg-controlled Avenger flew for 2.5 hours on June 24, 2021, during the Orange
Flag 21-2 Large Force Test Event at Edwards Air Force Base.
Viewers may note that Orange Flag is a training event held by the 412th Test Wing three times
a year that “focuses on technical integration and innovation across a breadth of technology
readiness levels,” as per the U.S. Air Force press release.
The Avenger's flight at Orange Flag was part of the AFRL’s larger Autonomous Attritable
Aircraft Experimentation (AAAx) project.
In this video Defense Updates analyze how the Skyborg program operating Avenger Drone
autonomously could be significant force multiplier for U.S Air Force?
Let's get started.
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As per reports, a human operator initiated the flight and got the Avenger to a safe
altitude and then handed it off to the Skyborg "pilot".
A command and control station on the ground monitored the drone's flight and Skyborg executed
"a series of foundational behaviors necessary to characterize safe system operation" including
following navigational commands, flying within defined boundaries known as "geo-fences,"
adhering to safe flight envelopes, and demonstrating "coordinated maneuvering."
The main aim of this test was to validate if Skyborg ACS was able to safely control
Avenger and guide it to conduct few basic maneuvers within a defined area.
This event adds a new aircraft that Skyborg has flown successfully .
Earlier the service has used a Kratos UTAP-22 Mako unmanned aircraft to conduct the first
flight test of an initial version of the AI driven "computer brain" being developed under
the Skyborg program.
Viewers may note that the Skyborg project is supported by Kratos, Boeing and General
Atomics which are under contract to provide UAVs for this initiative.
U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) and the U.S Air Force Research Laboratory
(AFRL) are working together to manage the Skyborg program, which was publicly revealed
in 2019.
As part of that goal, the Skyborg program is developing an artificial intelligence-driven
"computer brain" that could eventually autonomously control drones or unmanned combat air vehicles
(UCAVs).
The focus currently is on on the Skyborg Autonomy Core System (ACS) and the idea is to have
it perform tasks such as taking off and landing, and undertaking some basics decisions autonomously.
The U.S Air Force 2022 Fiscal Year budget request, which was released on May 28, 2021,
as part of the larger proposed budget for the U.S. military as a whole for that fiscal
cycle, identified the Skyborg initiative as one of the service's "Vanguard" efforts.
The service first revealed the concept of the Vanguard Program last year.
Any initiative tagged as Vanguard Program is expected to require advanced research and
development.
The others are Rocket Cargo program, the Golden Horde networked swarming munitions project,
and the Navigation Technology Satellite 3 (NTS-3) effort.
General Atomics Avenger (formerly Predator C) is developed from MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B)
drone.
Unlike the previous MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones, the Avenger is powered by a
turbofan engine, and its design includes stealth features such as internal weapons storage
and an S-shaped exhaust for reduced infrared and radar signatures.
It can carry the Lynx synthetic aperture radar and a version of the F-35 Lightning II's electro-optical
targeting system (EOTS), called the Advanced Low-observable Embedded Reconnaissance Targeting
(ALERT) system.
It has Internal weapons bay with 3,500 pounds or 1,600 kg capacity and 6 external hardpoints.
The drone has a total 6,500 pounds or 2,900 kg payload total.
The platform is compatible with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, GBU-39 SDB – 250 lb (110 kg) bombs,
GBU-12 Paveway II, GBU-38 JDAM – 500 lb (230 kg) bombs, GBU-16 Paveway II, GBU-32
JDAM – 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs and GBU-31 JDAM – 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs
The Avenger uses the same ground support infrastructure as the MQ-1 and MQ-9, including the ground
control station and existing communications networks.
Avenger is a much more capable and complex platform compared to Kratos UTAP-22 Mako unmanned
aircraft which was flown earlier.
So, autonomous operation of this platform is an excellent achievement.
Managing a single Avenger with basic operations is the first step.
Ultimately, the U.S Air Force will like to have the Skyborg powered UAVs to operate both
completely autonomously and in networked groups.
Avenger brings certain capabilities that would be critical in future wars.
Its stealthy design makes it less vulnerable to air defense systems and its weapons payload
could enables it take out high value targets.
Also, U.S Air Force has been considering adding air-to-air weaponry to its drones dates back
as far as 2003.
AIM-9X developed by Raytheon is likely be integrated for certain missions.
It has a speed of Mach 2.5 , range of 22 miles or 35 km, has Infrared homing for guidance
and a 9.4 kg warhead.
Autonomously flying Avengers or Reapers armed with this kind of weaponry would be major
game-changer.