XQ-67A: US Air Force tests mission systems and beyond-line-of-sight data links on its autonomous aircraft

The US Air Force has flown its XQ-67A autonomous collaborative platform again. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Experimental Operations Unit of Air Combat Command (ACC) flew the aircraft at the Nevada Test and Training Range, as the AFRL announced on Tuesday, October 27. The laboratory calls the flight a technological milestone for the autonomous capabilities of the future battlefield.

The test took place under the Demon APE (Demonstration of ACP Performance and Effectiveness) programme, which joins the AFRL with ACC’s operational test units so that an idea reaches the units faster, in line with the priorities of the National Defense Strategy. The flight combined tests of the hardware on the aircraft with live, virtual and constructive (LVC) simulations, that is, real, virtual and synthetic elements in the same scenario.

On the XQ-67A the team tested sensors, mission computers and power and thermal management hardware together, designed to operate as one package in a demanding combat environment. The flight also included beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) communications, so that unmanned aircraft can be commanded across dispersed areas of operations. The Air Force says the demonstration showed how such platforms can be controlled in distributed theatres, with resilient command and control at several levels.

“By combining AFRL’s rapid prototyping with ACC’s operational test units, the Air Force shortens the time from concept to capability in the hands of warfighters,” said Col. Matthew Caspers, deputy chief technology officer for air at the Department of the Air Force. AFRL engineer Trenton White added that the flight “proved that AFRL’s autonomy architectures, aligned with the government reference architectures Autonomy and Agile Mission Suite, can reliably process and relay combat-relevant data in realistic scenarios”. Processing and sharing that data is part of the effort to give commanders a deeper picture of the situation.

The Air Force sees platforms like the XQ-67A as a way to extend the reach of crewed fighters, to add large numbers of low-cost aircraft to the fleet and to expose crews to less risk. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems built the aircraft under an AFRL contract. In July 2025 the company reported another test in the California desert, in which the XQ-67A flew with government autonomy software and a tactical data link, receiving updates in real time so that in future it can coordinate with crewed and autonomous aircraft.

The same company is moving towards production of the FQ-42 Vengeance for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme, as we reported in FQ-42: General Atomics brings Boeing’s Spirit Defense into production. The Air Force has already tested commanding such aircraft from the air, when an F-22 pilot gave in-flight commands to a YFQ-44A.