Recently, an F-22 pilot successfully used a pilot-vehicle interface (PVI) in the cockpit to command the MQ-20 Avenger drone mid-flight. The drone was controlled via open radio/data-link architecture from the fighter — a direct demonstration of “manned aircraft commanding uncrewed wingmen.”
This is a powerful signal of how 5th-gen fighters and unmanned systems could increasingly operate together — human pilots issuing tasking rather than direct hands-on flying for every platform.
