March 12, 2024 | International, Land
May 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Other Defence
DARPA: Training AI to Win a Dogfight
Artificial intelligence has defeated chess grandmasters, Go champions, professional poker players, and, now, world-class human experts in the online strategy games Dota 2 and StarCraft II. No AI currently exists, however, that can outduel a human strapped into a fighter jet in a high-speed, high-G dogfight. As modern warfare evolves to incorporate more human-machine teaming, DARPA seeks to automate air-to-air combat, enabling reaction times at machine speeds and freeing pilots to concentrate on the larger air battle.
Turning aerial dogfighting over to AI is less about dogfighting, which should be rare in the future, and more about giving pilots the confidence that AI and automation can handle a high-end fight. As soon as new human fighter pilots learn to take-off, navigate, and land, they are taught aerial combat maneuvers. Contrary to popular belief, new fighter pilots learn to dogfight because it represents a crucible where pilot performance and trust can be refined. To accelerate the transformation of pilots from aircraft operators to mission battle commanders — who can entrust dynamic air combat tasks to unmanned, semi-autonomous airborne assets from the cockpit — the AI must first prove it can handle the basics.
To pursue this vision, DARPA created the Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program. ACE aims to increase warfighter trust in autonomous combat technology by using human-machine collaborative dogfighting as its initial challenge scenario. DARPA will hold a Proposers Day for interested researchers on May 17, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia.
“Being able to trust autonomy is critical as we move toward a future of warfare involving manned platforms fighting alongside unmanned systems,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Javorsek (Ph.D.), ACE program manager in DARPA's Strategic Technology Office (STO). “We envision a future in which AI handles the split-second maneuvering during within-visual-range dogfights, keeping pilots safer and more effective as they orchestrate large numbers of unmanned systems into a web of overwhelming combat effects.”
ACE is one of several STO programs designed to enable DARPA's “mosaic warfare” vision. Mosaic warfare shifts warfighting concepts away from a primary emphasis on highly capable manned systems — with their high costs and lengthy development timelines — to a mix of manned and less-expensive unmanned systems that can be rapidly developed, fielded, and upgraded with the latest technology to address changing threats. Linking together manned aircraft with significantly cheaper unmanned systems creates a “mosaic” where the individual “pieces” can easily be recomposed to create different effects or quickly replaced if destroyed, resulting in a more resilient warfighting capability.
The ACE program will train AI in the rules of aerial dogfighting similar to how new fighter pilots are taught, starting with basic fighter maneuvers in simple, one-on-one scenarios. While highly nonlinear in behavior, dogfights have a clearly defined objective, measureable outcome, and the inherent physical limitations of aircraft dynamics, making them a good test case for advanced tactical automation. Like human pilot combat training, the AI performance expansion will be closely monitored by fighter instructor pilots in the autonomous aircraft, which will help co-evolve tactics with the technology. These subject matter experts will play a key role throughout the program.
“Only after human pilots are confident that the AI algorithms are trustworthy in handling bounded, transparent and predictable behaviors will the aerial engagement scenarios increase in difficulty and realism,” Javorsek said. “Following virtual testing, we plan to demonstrate the dogfighting algorithms on sub-scale aircraft leading ultimately to live, full-scale manned-unmanned team dogfighting with operationally representative aircraft.”
DARPA seeks a broad spectrum of potential proposers for each area of study, including small companies and academics with little previous experience with the Defense Department. To that end, before Phase 1 of the program begins, DARPA will sponsor a stand-alone, limited-scope effort focused on the first technical area: automating individual tactical behavior for one-on-one dogfights. Called the “AlphaDogfight Trials,” this initial solicitation will be issued by AFWERX, an Air Force innovation catalyst with the mission of finding novel solutions to Air Force challenges at startup speed. The AFWERX trials will pit AI dogfighting algorithms against each other in a tournament-style competition.
“Through the AFWERX trials, we intend to tap the top algorithm developers in the air combat simulation and gaming communities,” Javorsek said. “We want them to help lay the foundational AI elements for dogfights, on which we can build as the program progresses.”
AFWERX will announce the trials in the near future on its website: https://www.afwerx.af.mil/.
For ACE Proposers Day registration details, please visit: https://go.usa.gov/xmnMn
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August 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace
US Air Force tests electronic warfare capabilities with fighter, recon and bomber aircraft
Mark Pomerleau WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has concluded a two-day, $1.4 million exercise that evaluated the F-35 fighter jet's ability to provide its electronic warfare capabilities to other stealthy reconnaissance and bombing platforms. The event, which took place Aug. 4-6 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, tested the ability for the F-35 to provide Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, or SEAD, support for other stealthy platforms such as the B-2 and the RQ-170 reconnaissance drone, according to an Aug. 6 news release from the Air Force. Maj. Theodore Ellis, chief of 53rd Wing Weapons, said the exercise focused on demonstrating stealth platform effectiveness against advanced threats using emerging technology and capitalizing on joint capabilities. Other platforms that participated included the F-22, the F-15 and the Navy's E/A-18G aircraft. Some aspects of the scenario tested these fourth- and fifth-generation platforms' joint and coalition SEAD integration. Other scenarios focused on how the latest fourth-gen electronic capabilities could increase fifth-gen freedom of maneuver, and vice versa, in contested environments, the Air Force said. U.S. adversaries over the past several years have developed advanced radars to detect incoming aircraft, pairing them with long-range missiles that in many cases outgun U.S. military weapons. The event allowed the Air Force to explore the integration of tactics, techniques and procedures that have never been tested together. “Through events like these, we continue to improve our joint 4th and 5th generation tactics, which enhances our abilities in an advanced threat environment,” Ellis said. Events like this are the prime movers to test and evaluate emerging capabilities and technologies — as opposed to training and readiness — with an operationally realistic scenario. “The investment and trust in our team allowed the 53 Wing to evaluate the interoperability of leading-edge capabilities and develop [tactics, techniques and procedures] that will ultimately strengthen our nation's air dominance,” said Col. Bill Creeden, commander of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group. “We fight as an integrated force which means we need to test and evaluate our latest capabilities as an integrated force. Put simply, our job is to inform, develop, and deliver, from idea to premeditated violence, an integrated tactical advantage to the Combat Air Force for both tonight, and tomorrow's potential fight. [Large Force Test Events] are a primary enabling effort to make this happen.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2020/08/07/us-air-force-tests-electronic-warfare-capabilities-with-fighter-recon-and-bomber-aircraft/
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March 4, 2020 | International, Naval
BAE Systems Secures $188 Million Contract for U.S. Navy’s AEGIS Combat System
March 2, 2020 - BAE Systems Inc. was awarded a five-year $188.2 million contract to provide the U.S. Navy's AEGIS Technical Representative (AEGIS TECHREP) organization with critical large-scale system engineering, integration, and testing expertise for the AEGIS Weapons and Combat Systems aboard U.S. Navy surface combatant ships. “BAE Systems personnel have worked side-by-side with Navy sailors and civilians for nearly 40 years to strengthen and modernize the fleet of AEGIS-equipped surface ships,” said Mark Keeler, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems' Integrated Defense Solutions business. “Our team brings a wealth of AEGIS combat system expertise with the agility, innovation, and technical acumen to ensure the U.S. Navy has the safe and effective combat capability it needs to meet mission objectives.” As part of the AEGIS Technical Representative Engineering Support Services contract, BAE Systems will provide Navy acquisition managers with on-site leadership and systems engineering to validate Total Ship Combat design at Navy sites in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey; Bath, Maine; and Pascagoula, Mississippi. The company also will support systems engineering and test and evaluation personnel to provide fleet experience and operational insight. Additionally, the company will provide logistics, cybersecurity, production, acquisition, and waterfront support required for upgrading and maintaining development of AEGIS Combat System capabilities and baselines across the entire life cycle. The task order was awarded under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center's Chief Information Officer–Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) Government-Wide Acquisition Contract. CIO-SP3 is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract. This contract is intended to provide information technology solutions and services. BAE Systems delivers a broad range of services and solutions enabling militaries and governments to successfully carry out their respective missions. The company provides large-scale systems engineering, integration, and sustainment services across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains. BAE Systems takes pride in its support of national security and those who serve. View source version on BAE Systems: https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/bae-systems-secures--188-million-contract-for-u-s--navy-s-aegis-combat-system