 A Fawkes Autonomy Prime, X-Wing partner for autonomous flight demonstration. A Fawkes Autonomy Prime partner X-Wing incorporated monitors an autonomous flight from their ground control station, at McClellan Airfield in Sacramento, California, January 29, 2024. A Fawkes, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, has awarded X-Wing two small business innovation research contracts, a Phase II in March 2023 to conduct autonomous flight trials, and optimize the technology for future missions, and a Phase III in December 2023 to demonstrate the capability, in an operationally relevant environment. X-Wing's autonomous flight technology allows its aircraft to taxi, take off, fly to a destination, avoid airborne and ground threats, and land, without any human input. Flare. Touchdown.