Northrop Grumman has pulled off a mid-flight control handover between AI systems, with its Talon IQ testbed shifting autonomy “brains” without interrupting flight operations.
During the test, the aircraft operated using the company’s Prism Mission Autonomy software before handing control to AI autonomy modules developed by Applied Intuition and Accelint.
The transition took place while the aircraft remained under continuous, stable control, preserving flight performance throughout the handover.
According to Northrop, the test is part of a broader effort to open the autonomy ecosystem to external developers and accelerate the maturity of mission-ready software.
“We’ve opened the Talon IQ ecosystem to help companies prove their autonomous capabilities and advance next-generation flight — providing a real-world testing platform at a lower cost than fully uncrewed systems,” said Craig Woolston, vice president of research and advanced design at Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems.
The Talon IQ testbed sits under Project Talon, an initiative focused on building modular autonomous aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighters.
The program is built around open architectures and rapid software iteration, with platforms such as the Model 437 used to accelerate testing and validation of mission autonomy capabilities.
