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RTX coordinates an all-UAV airstrike In Army demo

The demonstration showed how the UAVs picked up RF energy to detect possible threats, assessed the risk, and sent the data to a command station on the ground, which tasked other UAVs to confirm the targets and simulate a strike.

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RTX coordinates an all-UAV airstrike In Army demo
Two RTX autonomy solutions allowed a collaborative team of uncrewed aerial vehicles to execute a threat detection mission even when command links to human operators were severed. Photo credit: U.S. Army

Under a scorching desert sun, three uncrewed aerial vehicles scanned miles of rugged terrain, with only the broadest of objectives: to search an area for threats.

The UAVs picked up RF energy to detect possible threats, assessed the risk they posed, and recorded their locations. Within seconds, the UAVs sent the data to a command station on the ground, which tasked other UAVs to confirm the targets and simulate a strike.

The military exercise in Yuma, Arizona, was part of the U.S. Army's EDGE24 experiment, where teams from RTX businesses Collins Aerospace and Raytheon did something in flight that they had only done in simulations.


RTX coordinates an all-UAV airstrike In Army demo

UAVs have been used in reconnaissance and strike missions for years, but the demo showed they could complete them with human guidance for only critical mission decisions. The demonstration used two RTX autonomy solutions: Collins Aerospace’s RapidEdge mission system and Raytheon’s CODE autonomy.

Rather than carrying out step-by-step instructions or a pre-planned route, the UAVs were provided a general mission. They were then able to communicate with each other and figure out how to achieve the goal while reacting to obstacles in real time.

The technology worked when networks were unavailable, too. To simulate a communications-denied environment in battle, Collins turned off the ground-to-air command link, and the UAVs completed their mission without help from the control station. They also communicated seamlessly with the team manning Raytheon’s surrogate for the Coyote Block 3 launched effect.


RTX coordinates an all-UAV airstrike In Army demo

EDGE24, the Army’s Experimentation Demonstration Gateway Event at Yuma Proving Grounds, tested how emerging launched effect technologies integrate with other systems on a mock battlefield, supporting the Army’s Future Vertical Lift initiative to modernize rotorcraft. Peter Laird, Collins’ program manager for autonomy and launched effects, said the event gave the team a necessary opportunity to validate their systems in a real-world environment.

“Getting an air vehicle to fly is now the easy part – and it’s not easy,” Laird said. “Autonomous behavior adds a whole layer of complexity that is very difficult to validate until you’re up in the air.”


RTX coordinates an all-UAV airstrike In Army demo

The demonstration also showcased the speed of Collins’ RapidEdge team, whose focus is to find solutions like the one used at EDGE24. They developed that system in five months through techniques including advanced prototyping, integration, modeling and simulation – which can run entire missions in seconds – and “hardware-in-the-loop” testing, which takes data from those simulations and pairs it with actual processors, RF links and vehicles before a full flight test.

Their work, in turn, is an example of a broader initiative across RTX to use such approaches in developing transformative technologies.

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