Charlotte Bailey joined AIN’s editorial team in 2025 as a news reporter covering multiple topics including business aviation, new technology and the defense sector. She is also a frequent presenter in AIN’s video news reports. 
UK-based Charlotte has a strong interest in vintage military jets and in 2023 published a book about the de Havilland Vampire, as well as serving as a consultant on the topic for TV and movie projects. She is keen to expand her flying experience and enjoys hands-on assignments worldwide. In 2024, Charlotte was honored as Best New Journalist in the Aerospace Media Awards. Early in her career, Charlotte was involved in manufacturing customized hot air balloons.

News Reporter 

Charlotte Bailey

The U.S. Navy has conducted a collaborative teaming demonstration of the MQ-20 Avenger drone during its annual Gray Flag exercise. The flights, reported by manufacturer General Atomics’ Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) this week, were conducted in California on September 10 and were intended to show how a human commander’s intentions can translate into actions undertaken by autonomous elements.
During the exercise, which GA-ASI termed a “demonstration of collaborative autonomous mission planning,” the MQ-20 employed General Atomics’ Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem (TacACE) software to enable co-ordination and decision-making. GA-ASI said this software “provided an environment for integrated human-machine mission planning, command and control, autonomy configuration, simulation, and post-mission analysis.”
In practical terms, GA-ASI explained how TacACE was used to “reason over” a baseline mission plan and adapt it in real time as the scenario evolved. The company hailed the trial as a success, confirming that “the system proved it could understand its human boss’ instructions and carry them out within the team” of other crewed and uncrewed aircraft.
The jet-powered MQ-20 has featured in numerous U.S. armed forces demonstrations to date. In October 2025, it collaborated on a flight test with a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter using L3Harris-provided datalinks: enabling the F-22 to command and control the drone in flight. In January, a company-funded demo also saw the platform make a live engagement with a human-piloted aggressor aircraft.
At the time, GA-ASI noted the MQ-20 has “served as a surrogate for collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs) for more than five years”. In February, the U.S. Air Force performed another F-22 teaming mission with the MQ-20. GA-ASI stated that this demonstration “highlighted the potential of CCAs to act as force multipliers for manned platforms, enabling collaboration between autonomous systems and human pilots.”&nbsp;

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

U.S. Navy Tests Autonomy Integration With General Atomics' MQ-20 Drone 

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The U.S. Navy has conducted a collaborative teaming demonstration of General Atomics’ Aeronautical Systems’ MQ-20 Avenger during its annual Gray Flag exercise.

U.S. Navy Tests Autonomy Integration With MQ-20 Drone 

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