June 19, 2019 | International, C4ISR, Other Defence
Humans are remarkably good at choosing to act on limited information. Computers, less so. A new DARPA program wants to train artificial intelligence to process and evaluate information like humans do, and produce actionable results on far smaller datasets than presently done. It's a program of such important DARPA's giving it VIP status, or a least VIP as an acronym: Virtual Intelligence Processing.
“Successful integration of next-generation AI into DoD applications must be able to deal with incomplete, sparse and noisy data, as well as unexpected circumstances that might arise while solving real world problems,” reads a solicitation posted June 14. “Thus, there is need for new mathematical models for computing leading to AI algorithms that are efficient and robust, can learn new concepts with very few examples, and can guide the future development of novel hardware to support them.”
To create these mathematical models, DARPA wants partners to look inward, creating AI inspired by the robust and massive parallelism seen in the human neocortex. If it is the architecture of the brain that makes humans so especially skilled at processing information quickly, then it is an architecture worth studying.
“In order to reverse engineer the human brain,” the solicitation continues, calmly, “we need to apply new mathematical models for computing that are complete and transparent and can inform next-generation processors that are better suited for third-wave AI.”
It is DARPA's nature to inject funding into problem areas it sees as both yielding future results and not presently served by the market, and this is not different. The solicitation explicitly asks for mathematical models that have not already been the focus of AI development. It's also looking for models that can inform the development of future hardware, rather than programs that can run on existing machines. DARPA is interested in how the hardware works in simulation, but wants partners to hold off on actually making the hardware for the model.
So, the plan goes: create a mathematical model, inspired by brains, to process information on a small and limited data set, and then design it for hardware that doesn't exist yet. Easy as that sounds, the solicitation also asks proposers to talk about the limitations of the algorithms when applied to military tasks, and specifically limitations related to accuracy, data, computing power and robustness.
Working from limited information is an expected future of military machines going forward. Between electronic warfare, denied environments and the very nature of battlefield events as rare and hard to record moments, doing more with on-board processing of limited data should enable greater autonomy. Even in the rare case where a weapon system transmits data back for algorithm refinement, that data set will be orders of magnitude smaller than the big data sets used to train most commercial machine learning tools.
Should a proposer's idea be accepted and they follow through both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project, the total award is set at $1 million. A tidy sum, for anyone who can figure out the math to make a future computer run on sparse information as effectively as a human brain.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2019/06/18/can-brain-inspired-ai-run-on-lean-data/
March 7, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
A new Pentagon strategy to maximize small business participation in defense contracting is in the works for this spring, or early summer, defense officials told Defense News.
January 25, 2024 | International, Naval
December 2, 2019 | International, C4ISR
In the face of unpredictable conflict environment, one of the key considerations of armed forces around the world is to improve their ability to rapidly identify and analyze potential threats, in order to transmit coordinates and information to whomever the appropriate response will come from. In this latest report we describe how in the modern threat environment, the average Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft must be able to find and detect new, evolving threats including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), stealth aircraft, cruise missiles (both supersonic and hypersonic) and electronic warfare systems. As technology improves on combat air systems, Airborne ISR platforms are also needed to evolve to be able to detect and help defend or combat these systems. Airborne ISR continues to be an incredibly important capability for militaries. Effective ISR enables kinetic assets the resources they need to be successful on the battlefield. Perhaps more than this, ISR is an exceptionally capable deterrent in its own right and modern-day dissemination technology and techniques allows forces to deal with threats before they can cause harm. Currently the navies of NATO member nations do not have the required number of airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to provide the information naval fleet commanders need in today's oceanic battlefields. The Navies of NATO member states have three major sources of ISR: satellite photos, ISR drones and search operations performed by specialized, manned electronic warfare aircraft and AWACS aircraft. Most of these airborne assets, however, are land-based. This means ships far out at sea or aircraft stationed far away from friendly airfields will have less access to information from MQ-4C Triton drones or P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Meanwhile, China's threat to the US Navy's sea control abilities within the Indo-Pacific region is increasing. The PLA's Rocket Force (PLARF) has developed the ability for mass missile attacks on US ships that it can launch from standoff distance. The Russian Navy too, has developed similar capabilities to deter NATO ships from coming close to Russian coastal waters. Effective airborne ISR will allow the United States and NATO to gain insights along with tactics, techniques and procedures about the air defense systems of their adversaries. It would also provide a non-kinetic way to defeat those air defense systems and passing location data to shooters. As on this date both Russia and China can outpace NATO in a conflict's opening phases. It is hardly surprising then, that as per the latest study – “Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads - Market and Technology Forecast to 2027” carried out by Amsterdam based Market Forecast, the global market for Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance systems is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.06% between 2019 and 2027. Airborne ISR represents the eyes and ears of modern defense forces, and major U.S. projects such as the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) have attracted attention from leading aerospace and defense companies all over the world. Now, the rest of the world is following suit. This market study also focusses on 20 of the most sought- after aerospace companies in the ISR industry. The report is valuable for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of airborne ISR industry and the implementation and adoption of airborne ISR services. http://www.asdnews.com/news/defense/2019/11/28/nato-navies-need-more-airborne-isr