General Atomics claims fully autonomous AI-piloted flight with Avenger MQ-20A
Avenger MQ-20A, formerly known as Predator C. (Photo: USN)
General Atomics claims that the latest Avenger MQ-20A test flight demonstrated capabilities in the race to operationalise autonomy for collaborative combat aircraft.
A company-owned Avenger MQ-20A UAS was used on 12 September by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to fly a military aircraft with an AI pilot and operationally relevant mission systems software.
The company revealed on 19 September that the ‘completely autonomous flight’ with the AI pilot lasted for about 30 minutes as part of a ‘cooperating live, virtual, and constructive UAS swarm’.
General Atomics employed its Reinforcement Learning (RL) architecture to develop and validate an RL agent in an operationally relevant environment — specifically, enabling ‘chase and avoid’ behaviour in which real-time updates were made to the flight path in order to avoid adversaries using live fused tracks.
The live tracks were provided to the system using a TacIRST embeddable infrared search and track sensor system supplied by Lockheed Martin.
General Dynamics Mission Systems supplied the mission computer for the flight, which is part of a series by General Atomics to demonstrate AI and machine learning concepts for advanced UAS.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Air Warfare
-
![Eurosatory 2026: Helicopters and CUAS set to dominate as Europe advances rearmament efforts]()
Eurosatory 2026: Helicopters and CUAS set to dominate as Europe advances rearmament efforts
The biennial show in Paris will focus heavily on autonomous technology, counter-drone solutions and helicopters, as countries ramp up defence budgets and focus on modernising defence capabilities.
-
![North American appetite for European AEW&C aircraft bolstered as Canada picks GlobalEye]()
North American appetite for European AEW&C aircraft bolstered as Canada picks GlobalEye
Canada’s selection of Saab’s GlobalEye to fulfil its airborne early warning requirements draws the country closer to European industry over American-made platforms, snubbing Boeing and L3Harris.
-
![Hezbollah’s fibre-optic drones expose Israel’s counter-UAV gap in southern Lebanon]()
Hezbollah’s fibre-optic drones expose Israel’s counter-UAV gap in southern Lebanon
Israel is working to close a counter-drone capability gap exposed by Hezbollah's fibre-optic systems, drawing on battlefield lessons from Ukraine to replace improvised defences with targeted solutions.
-
![US Air Force to fast-track capability development for GPS-denied operations]()
US Air Force to fast-track capability development for GPS-denied operations
Over the next 18 months, the air force's research facility intends to accelerate the progress of resilient, autonomous solutions to support aircraft and helicopter deployments in DDIL overland and over-the-water scenarios.
-
![NATO countries test Canadian-made, high-speed “cannibal” drone]()
NATO countries test Canadian-made, high-speed “cannibal” drone
INKAS Anuri CUAS drone has been built to engage consumer, commercial and modified first-person view enemy drones flying at speeds of up to 400 km/h.
