US Navy tests autonomous mission planning with MQ-20 Avenger

The US Navy and General Atomics ran a demonstration in September in which a mission plan was passed to an MQ-20 Avenger uncrewed aircraft, which then executed it, according to the Navy. The activity was part of the annual Gray Flag 2026 exercise.

The service's Strike Planning & Execution Systems team, known as PMX-281, built the mission and transmitted it to the aircraft. The Navy calls the concept Collaborative Autonomy Mission Planning, or CAMP.

Captain Todd Keith, the programme manager for PMX-281, said CAMP is meant to make autonomy easier to work with by folding it into mission environments that include both crewed and uncrewed platforms. The demonstration, he said, showed a way to connect how operators plan missions today, through the Collaborative Mission Planning Continuum, with how autonomous aircraft will carry those missions out. That could cut operator workload, improve interoperability and move collaborative autonomy closer to operational use.

The Collaborative Mission Planning Continuum, or CMPC, is a Navy programme to replace the older Joint Mission Planning system.

General Atomics said in a separate statement that the MQ-20 work demonstrated mission autonomy software functioning through the kill chain, using passive sensors, autonomy and coordinated action among the participants.

The Navy said that while an autonomous aircraft was used, the capability at its core is mission planning: turning a broader force-level plan into executable roles, tasks, timing, authorities and constraints for each participant in a mission. As aircraft, weapons and other effectors become more networked, the service added, that translation step becomes more significant.

According to the Navy, the effort is ultimately meant to ease the integration of autonomous aircraft into future operations.