U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Demonstrate First Live Control of an Uncrewed Air Vehicle by UMCS and MDCX™

Core Insights - Lockheed Martin, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and General Atomics, successfully conducted the first-ever live control flight demonstration of an uncrewed system using the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control Station (UMCS) [1][2][3] Group 1: Demonstration Details - The demonstration involved the MQ-20 Avenger, which was controlled by Lockheed Martin's MDCX™ autonomy platform from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, while the aircraft was based in California [2][3] - This flight test marks a significant milestone in the development of UMCS, paving the way for future unmanned aviation operations within the Navy [3][5] Group 2: Collaboration and Technology - Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works division emphasized the rapid integration of the MQ-20's autonomy core with UMCS, showcasing common control capabilities and third-party platform integration [4] - The collaboration aims to enhance the UMCS's beyond line-of-sight capabilities and demonstrates the maturity of General Atomics' Tactical Autonomy Core Ecosystem (TacACE) [4] Group 3: Future Developments - The U.S. Navy plans to refine UMCS's requirements based on data gathered from this demonstration and will conduct further flight tests to advance command and control technologies, autonomy, and crewed-uncrewed teaming [5]