F-22 pilot controls drone wingmate from 50,000 feet in first test

For the first time, a fighter jet pilot just flew two aircraft at once—and they weren't connected by a joystick.

On October 21 at Nevada's Test and Training Range, an F-22 Raptor pilot controlled a GA-ASI MQ-20 Avenger drone from the cockpit using a tablet interface, flying both planes simultaneously at extreme altitude. It sounds like science fiction, but it's the next logical step in how modern air combat might work: instead of one pilot, one plane, you have one experienced pilot commanding a crewed fighter and an unmanned wingmate.

Why This Matters Now

The test was a collaboration between General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris Technologies—three contractors working on what the Pentagon calls "Open Mission Systems." The idea is straightforward but crucial: military hardware shouldn't be locked into proprietary ecosystems. If a pilot can fly the same drone from an F-16 today and an F-35 tomorrow, without rebuilding the whole system, that's operational flexibility that saves time and money.

The technical challenge was establishing a secure two-way communication link between the fighter and the drone at altitude. L3Harris provided the BANSHEE tactical datalinks; Lockheed Martin contributed open radio architecture. The F-22 pilot used a GRACE mission module and tablet-based interface to send commands and receive real-time data from the MQ-20—essentially flying it as a remote extension of their own mission.

The MQ-20 Avenger itself is built for contested airspace. It's a 76-foot wingspan jet-powered drone that can cruise at 400 knots, operate above 50,000 feet, and carry mixed payloads internally and externally. Think of it as a high-speed reconnaissance platform that can loiter, surveil, or strike without risking a pilot.

What makes this test significant isn't the individual components—the Air Force has flown drones for decades. It's the integration. One pilot, two aircraft, one coordinated mission. The F-22 brings sensors, speed, and decision-making. The MQ-20 brings endurance, payload flexibility, and the ability to go places where risking a crewed jet might not make sense. Together, they're more capable than either alone.

This is part of the Air Force's larger push toward "next-generation air dominance"—a doctrine that assumes future conflicts will involve manned and unmanned systems working in tight coordination. That means the human pilot isn't replaced; they're elevated. Instead of managing one aircraft, they're orchestrating a small team.

The demonstration validated the communications architecture and proved the concept works at scale. The next phase will likely involve more complex scenarios: multiple drones, contested electronic environments, real-world mission profiles. Each test tightens the feedback loop and builds confidence in the system.