The U.S. Navy demonstrated a new information-sharing capability this month that allows it to streamline communication between operators and autonomous aircraft.
Service members with the Strike Planning & Execution Systems (PMX-281) successfully integrated the Collaborative Autonomy Mission Planning feature during Gray Flag 2026 at Point Mugu Sea Range, California, using an MQ-20 Avenger surrogate aircraft.
“This demonstration showed how we can connect the way operators plan missions today… with the way autonomous aircraft will execute those missions,” said Capt. Todd “Toby” Keith, PMX-281 program manager. “That can reduce the burden on our operators, improve interoperability and help bring collaborative autonomy closer to operational use.”
PMX-281 personnel stitched together a mission plan that instructed the aircraft what to do and when to do it, shared it with the autonomous machine and watched as it carried out its directions.
The service touted the development as a stepping stone in deploying autonomous aircraft as part of a larger battle plan.
CAMP builds on the service’s Experimental Platform for Intelligent Combat effort by creating a foundation for information-sharing that can be applied to all autonomous vessels.
The EPIC program has spearheaded autonomous vehicle control and simultaneous surrogate aircraft operations.
Under EPIC, the Navy partnered with Shield AI in September 2025, using the company’s proprietary Hivemind technology to successfully pilot a Kratos BQM-177A target drone.
The Hivemind technology allows drones to fly in GPS-denied environments where communication between pilot and drone is compromised.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine spoke on Wednesday about the importance of adapting to the changing character of war to develop autonomous capabilities quickly.
“We must move together because the window to build the force that we need is closing,” Caine said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “We can buy almost anything in life, but we cannot buy time.”
Riley Ceder is a Navy reporter at Military Times, where he covers issues directly affecting service members and their families, as well as breaking news.