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August 6, 2019 | International, C4ISR

Can a dragonfly teach a missile how to hunt?

By: Jen Judson

WASHINGTON — A computational neuroscientist is studying whether a dragonfly's excellent hunting skills can be replicated in a missile's ability to maneuver and destroy targets midair with better precision.

Dragonflies are vicious little creatures with a hit-to-kill track record of 95 percent, meaning only 5 percent of its prey escapes.

Sandia National Laboratories' Frances Chance is building algorithms that simulate how a dragonfly processes information when intercepting prey, and she's testing them in a virtual environment. So far, the results are promising.

The laboratories are federally funded and focus on national security missions through scientific and engineering research. The project is a yearlong, high-risk, high-gain effort that will wrap up in September, and it is funded by Sandia's Autonomy for Hypersonics Mission Campaign, Chance said.

“I think what is really interesting about insects, in general, is they do something really fast and really well, but they are not particularly smart in the way you or I would think of ourselves as being smart,” Chance told Defense News in a recent interview.

While insects may not be the right fit for studying cognitive capabilities to develop complex artificial intelligence, they are ideal for developing efficient computations for intercept capability. A dragonfly can react to a particular prey's maneuvers in 50 milliseconds, Chance explained. That amount of time accounts for information to cross three neurons in a dragonfly's brain. This indicates the dragonfly doesn't learn how to hunt, but rather the skill is inherent and part of its brain's hard-wiring.

“The challenge then is: Is there anything that we can learn from how dragonflies do this that we can then bring to the next generation of missiles, or maybe even the next-next generation of missiles?” Chance said.

By developing an artificial neural network that mimics a dragonfly's ability to hunt and then applying it to missile capabilities that rely on computation-heavy systems, one could reduce the size, weight and power needed for a missile's onboard computers; improve intercept techniques for targets such as hypersonic weapons; and home in on targets using simpler sensors.

If the model of a dragonfly's neural circuit developed through Chance's research shows enough promise, she would then pass the information to scientists, who would try to directly apply it to weapons systems.

One of the greatest leaps involves adapting an algorithm to handle the speed at which a missile flies. While a dragonfly is fast, it's not nearly as fast as a missile. Animal brains process information significantly slower than a computer, so it's possible computations can be sped up to better align with the speed at which a missile approaches targets.

“The hope is that even if the algorithm isn't wildly successful, you might be able to say something about what you can get away with in terms of what types of capabilities you give the next generation of weapons,” Chance said.

The model she's building is several steps removed from implementation onto a weapon. “I would consider the project complete when we have a viable model — ‘viable' meaning it does interception — and a bonus if it's neurobiologically plausible. There is no reason to force that for this type of research, but only because it doesn't necessarily matter; so something biologically inspired that works I would consider a success.”

https://www.c4isrnet.com/land/2019/08/05/can-a-dragonfly-teach-a-missile-how-to-hunt/

On the same subject

  • French joint chief calls for coordinated European force

    September 12, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

    French joint chief calls for coordinated European force

    By: Pierre Tran SATORY ARMY BASE, France — Nations in Europe need to forge a more coordinated forceacross the continent, with each ready to step up to play a leadership role during conflict, said the French joint chief of staff. “The future of the defense of nations on the continent cannot be considered outside the European framework,” Army Gen. François Lecointre told the Summer Defense University, a two-day gathering of senior officers, parliamentarians and industry chiefs. “In the context of doubt over multilateralism, greater fragility of alliances and America's refocus of attention to the Indo-Pacific region, the European continent must confront — increasingly on its own — all kinds of threats: might, terrorism, hybrid, cyber and migration,” he said. That use of the term “might” referred to unspecified nations perceived to pose a threat to Western allies. That calls for a common vision in strategy and capability, with a country ready to take the role of a “leader nation,” he said. The aim is to build a “European strategic autonomy,” he added. The French armed forces minister, Florence Parly, came to the army base, just outside Versailles, west of the capital, and watched a dynamic display staged by the Army. The service fielded a Jaguar combat and reconnaissance vehicle, a VBCI infantry fighting vehicle carrying a squad of troops, a robotic vehicle carrying a wounded soldier, and a Leclerc main battle tank carried by a tank transport. France invites foreign officers and political leaders to the high-level annual gathering, organized by CEIS, a think tank and consultancy. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/09/11/french-joint-chief-calls-for-coordinated-european-force

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 11, 2019

    July 15, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 11, 2019

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  • Northrop launches hypersonic defense push

    March 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Northrop launches hypersonic defense push

    By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — With the Pentagon making hypersonic weapons a priority, Northrop Grumman is throwing its hat into the ring in an attempt to claim space in the still-early hypersonic defense market. The company last week launched a new campaign website focused on hypersonic defense as part of a broader push into the business area, where the Pentagon expects to spend more than $10 billion in the next five years to develop offensive and defensive capabilities. Hypersonic defense is significantly behind hypersonic offense, something Kenn Todorov, vice president of missile defense solutions and the lead for Northrop's counter-hypersonic efforts, acknowledged in a March 19 interview. That means there is a lot of room for experimentation in how to tackle the issue. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/03/19/northrop-launches-hypersonic-defense-push/

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