02/10/2026
What happens to a mission plan when the comms link goes down?
LexChip, LEAP Australia and Kompozition have commenced a pilot project that explores where things are heading for digital mission engineering for autonomous and uncrewed defence platforms.
We're starting with a hypothetical scenario: a search and rescue UAV launches from Jindabyne to find a missing person in the Snowy Mountains. Fixed and dynamic no-fly zones cover parts of the search area.
🔹 Plan. The mission and flight plan are built with guardrails the operator defines: altitude windows, geofences, and no-fly zones.
🔹 Assure. The plan is tested in simulation before launch, so the operator can see what the mission can and can't achieve inside those limits.
🔹 Approve. The operator's approval of the plan works like a signed contract: a binding statement of what the platform is allowed to do.
🔹 Synchronise. The plan, guardrails and ROE are loaded onto LexChip hardware on the platform, so they travel with the system.
🔹 Execute. The platform runs the mission within its pre-defined guardrails and contingencies. If it needs to go beyond them, it asks the operator for approval. Until approval arrives, it stays inside its approved limits.
The mission plan and guardrails keep working in communications-degraded and denied environments. Span of control reaches all the way to the platform. Intended result: trustable autonomy, built in from the planning and mission requirements stage.
