U.S. Navy researchers from several branches are working on a software system that uses intelligent agents to guide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that each serve as a ‘wingman’ in manned/unmanned teams, in simulated beyond-visual-range (BVR) air combat missions.

The system is called Tactical Battle Manager (TBM) and streamlines cross-platform coordination of manned and unmanned air combat teams to operate in highly contested environments. It allows a human operator to manage the UAVs on a team by coordinating their objectives/goals.