The American company Raytheon has tested a program that allows a manned combat aircraft to coordinate several unmanned wingmen. As reported by FlightGlobal, during the tests, the operator simultaneously controlled three drones in the air.
Today in the USA, The UK and some other countries are developing escort drones for manned combat aircraft. These devices will take over some of their functions, including aerial combat, long-range reconnaissance and electronic jamming. You can read about how the designers came up with the idea of an unmanned slave in our material "Always there" .
On September 29, Raytheon announced flight tests of a program that allows a manned combat aircraft to coordinate several unmanned wingmen. During these tests, the operator simultaneously controlled three drones. The American company did not specify which devices they were. Judging by the photo she posted, it could have been BQM-34S, which the US Navy uses as air targets.
During the tests, the operator assigned tasks to the drones, and they jointly developed the procedure necessary for its implementation, and followed it. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capabilities participated in the demonstration.
At the same time, the US Air Force Research Laboratory is conducting the Skyborg program, which involves the creation of relatively cheap unmanned wingmen and an artificial intelligence system that will control such devices. We wrote about the first flight tests of the prototype of the "brain" for unmanned Skyborg wingmen earlier.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva