Air Force notches second flight test of Skyborg ACS during Orange Flag

Integrated with a different aircraft, Skyborg's autonomy core system flew for the second time during last month's Orange Flag event at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.

The two-hour, 30-minute excursion, which occurred June 24, came two months after the service carried out its first flight test of Skyborg's ACS.

But the most recent flight was aboard a different prototype: General Atomics' MQ-20 Avenger unmanned aerial system. The first one, held April 29, integrated the ACS with a Kratos UTAP-22 UAS.

The Air Force Research Laboratory, in a press release yesterday announcing the second flight test, said the ACS and MQ-20 pairing proved the system's "modularity, portability, and scalability by demonstrating the same capabilities on a completely different aircraft using the same software release."

"Flying the Skyborg ACS on platforms from two different manufacturers demonstrates the portability of the government-owned autonomy core, unlocking future multimission capabilities for the joint force," AFRL Commander Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle said in the announcement.

One of three Air Force Vanguard programs, Skyborg aims to support a stock of low-cost, attritable combat drones. Kratos, General Atomics and Boeing are all on contract to deliver aircraft for flight demonstrations.

During the most recent flight test, AFRL reported the Skyborg system, which was monitored from a ground command and control station, responded to navigational commands, reacted to geo-fences, demonstrated coordinated maneuvering and more.

An initial announcement, from March, showed Air Force officials had also planned to test a gateway prototype during Orange Flag, though it wasn't known whether the service planned to integrate the prototype with a Skyborg aircraft. The latest press release didn't mention GatewayONE.

It's unclear when future Skyborg experimentation events will occur. This week's release said such events will explore teaming between unnamed aircraft and multiple Skyborg drones. AFRL spokesman Bryan Ripple wrote in an email that officials "are currently assessing dates and options for these experimentation events."