From Platforms to Hybrid Air Wings: How Modern Air Operations Are Changing
On February 1, 2026, Navy Lookout reported a milestone in modern military aviation: for the first time, a Royal Navy helicopter crew successfully used live data from multiple drones and ground sensors to detect, track, and target a moving vehicle, in real time and beyond line of sight.
A Wildcat helicopter received near-instantaneous intelligence from two uncrewed systems (a Puma and a Providence drone) alongside other ground-based sensors. All data flowed through a multi-node MESH network, allowing the crewed aircraft to operate not as a standalone platform, but as an airborne command node within a wider operational network.
This was not just a technical demonstration. It was a clear signal of where air operations are heading.
From Platforms to Hybrid Air Wings
The trials, conducted from Predannack Airfield in Cornwall, demonstrated what the Royal Navy describes as a hybrid air wing: crewed helicopters and uncrewed systems operating together as a single, coordinated capability. Importantly, this model extends beyond individual units, enabling cooperation across services, domains, and allied forces.
Instead of switching between siloed systems, the Wildcat crew worked from a single operational picture, combining live drone feeds, sensor inputs, and targeting data inside the aircraft. The capability was described as a “universal translator” for air operations, enabled by a decentralized, self-healing MESH network proven essential in contested environments like Ukraine.
Why This Matters: The Operational Reality
Modern air operations are no longer about individual aircraft. They are about systems operating together.
That means:
Crewed and uncrewed aircraft working side by side
Multiple sensors feeding a shared operational picture
Dynamic tasking across aircraft types
Resilient, self-healing networks that survive disruption
Interoperability across units, services, and allies
The Royal Navy’s trials show that network access and orchestration now matter as much as the aircraft themselves. A helicopter becomes exponentially more effective when it can:
Task drones dynamically
Consume and share sensor data instantly
Coordinate actions across platforms
Remain operational even when parts of the network are degraded
Why SKYOPS Supports Hybrid Operations by Design
When crewed and uncrewed aircraft operate as one mission, they must also be managed as one at the organizational level. Planning, approvals, compliance, coordination, and accountability cannot remain fragmented across platforms or teams.
SKYOPS provides the flight management foundation that enables this. It supports hybrid operations by structuring missions, workflows, and oversight across crewed and uncrewed aircraft, ensuring operational control, regulatory compliance, and mission readiness without adding administrative complexity.
Hybrid air wings work when operations are managed as one system rather than a collection of disconnected tools. That requires:
A single operational backbone for crewed and uncrewed aircraft
Unified mission planning and execution
Shared situational awareness across platforms
Standardized workflows that scale across aircraft types
Compliance and traceability without slowing operations
Whether a helicopter is acting as an airborne command center, or drones are extending reach beyond line of sight, complexity must be absorbed by the system - not the crew.
The Direction Is Clear
As the Commander of the Wildcat Maritime Force has stated, the future of air operations is modular, survivable, and interoperable, connecting sensors and strike assets instantly across the battlespace. The Royal Navy’s Eagles Eye trials do not describe a distant vision. They describe the operational reality air units are already moving toward. Hybrid operations are no longer experimental, they are becoming the standard.