The ability to control unmanned systems from a manned aircraft is an important “force multiplier” in Airbus’s vision for future air power that is smart, modular and connected.

This know-how has been confirmed in a “dynamic and interactive way” during manned-unmanned teaming (MUT) ‘test flight campaigns’ successfully performed by the company.

These campaigns included demonstrations with five Airbus-built (www.airbus.com) Do-DT25 target drones controlled by a mission group commander who was airborne in a manned command and control aircraft.

Flown in a test zone in the area of Germany’s Baltic Sea, the MUT trial flights served multiple purposes, including validating such elements as connectivity, human-machine interface, and the concept of teaming intelligence through mission group management.

A key element contributing to these successful flights was the advanced flight control and flight management system developed by Airbus for unmanned air vehicles; this combines fully automatic guidance, navigation and control with ‘intelligent swarming’ capabilities.

The Airbus MUT demonstrations brought together several of the company’s programme and product lines, with the main development and test phases conducted during a short timeframe and at low cost.

Expertise gained during the manned-unmanned teaming test flight campaigns will be applied by Airbus to develop Europe’s Future Combat Air System.