Connect the Dots: Designing for the Future of Manufacturing Reality—Surface Finish
The Pulse: Caught in the Crosshatch—A Cautionary Tale of Detective Work
Fresh PCB Concepts: Designing PCBs for Harsh Environments—Reliability Is Engineered Upstream
U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Demonstrate First Live Control of an Uncrewed Air Vehicle by UMCS and MDCX
November 8, 2024 | Lockheed MartinEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Lockheed Martin collaborated with the U.S. Navy and General Atomics (GA) in a first-ever live control flight demonstration of an uncrewed system by the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control Station (UMCS).
Powered by the Skunk Works® MDCX™ autonomy platform, the UMCS controlled a GA MQ-20 Avenger uncrewed air system (UAS) as it completed a live fly mission. This demonstration is a pathfinder that helps to advance the complex technology necessary to enable crewed and uncrewed teaming as envisioned for programs such as CCA and others.
The flight test is a significant milestone in the development of UMCS, setting the stage for the Navy's future unmanned aviation operations.
MDCX™ enabled the U.S. Navy Air Vehicle Pilots at Patuxent River, Maryland to control the MQ-20 during its flight in California.
"Skunk Works is proud to collaborate with the Navy to bring its Carrier Air Wing of the Future vision to life," said John Clark, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. "The MDCX made it possible to rapidly integrate the MQ-20 'autonomy core' with the UMCS, demonstrating common control capability and third-party platform integration."
"Autonomous collaborative platforms that are mission capable with technologies that have been demonstrated at high readiness levels and the maturation of those technologies is just one of the focus areas for GA-ASI," said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. "This collaboration with the USN and Lockheed Martin advances the UMCS's beyond line-of-sight capabilities, while demonstrating the maturity of our Tactical Autonomy Core Ecosystem (TacACE)."
"This was a huge step for unmanned naval aviation," said Lt. Steven Wilster, MQ-25 AVP. "This demo showcased UMCS's first live control of an unmanned air vehicle, and it was great to be part of history in the making. The team is paving the way for integrating critical unmanned capability across the joint force to combat the high-end threat our warfighters face today and in the future."
The U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are collaborating via a Tri-Service Memorandum of Understanding on critical sub-systems for CCA platforms. The Navy leads the U.S. Department of Defense in developing a common control architecture and ground control station (GCS) for these systems. This work is being done in collaboration with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, leveraging decades of operational experience delivering GCSs underpinned by the U.S. government's Open Mission Systems architecture for third-party platform integration for optimal interoperability.
The Navy will refine UMCS's requirements based on data from this demonstration and conduct further flight tests to advance command and control technologies, autonomy and crewed-uncrewed teaming.
Share on:
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
EMI Strengthens Test Capability with Acculogic Flying Probe System
05/04/2026 | Express Manufacturing, Inc.Express Manufacturing, Inc. (EMI), a global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, has added the Acculogic Scorpion 980E Flying Probe Test System to its inspection and test operations, giving the company greater flexibility in how it validates and supports today’s increasingly complex electronics.
Netherlands Awards RTX $627M Patriot Defense Contract
04/13/2026 | RTXRaytheon, an RTX business, was awarded a $627 million contract to supply the Netherlands with Patriot® air and missile defense system equipment.
Understanding Tolerances in Flexible Circuit Design
04/01/2026 | Chris Clark, Flexible Circuit TechnologiesThe challenge with cumulative tolerances is meeting the dimensional requirements for items dimensioned on a drawing or specification for a flexible or rigid-flex circuit. It is critical to understand the fabrication processes and how features are defined when creating your tolerance requirements.
New, Greener Solutions for Etch: Novel Copper Extraction
03/30/2026 | Richard Nichols, GreenSource Engineering“Novel” is a typical marketing phrase that implies new and unique, but often “novel” actually means an established technology being applied to a new field or application. This, in turn, is often driven by newly relevant external motivation. GreenSource has been working on just such a solution: novel copper extraction, offering a better and greener alternative to traditional LLE control systems for cupric chloride etch.
Agileo Automation Launches Agil'EDA to Accelerate SEMI EDA Adoption for Semiconductor Equipment OEMs
03/25/2026 | Agileo AutomationAgileo Automation, a leading provider of control and connectivity solutions for global semiconductor manufacturing, unveils Agil'EDA, a new software solution implementing Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA), a set of SEMI standards also known as Interface A, to enable semiconductor equipment manufacturers to meet the evolving high-performance connectivity requirements of tier-one fabs and advanced packaging facilities.