September 7, 2018 | International, C4ISR

Fully autonomous ‘mobile intelligent entities’ coming to the battlefields of the future

WASHINGTON — A killer robot by any other name is far more palatable to the general public. That may be part of the logic behind the Army Research Laboratory Chief Scientist Alexander Kott's decision to refer to thinking and moving machines on the battlefield as “mobile intelligent entities.” Kott pitched the term, along with the new ARL concept of fully autonomous maneuver, at the 2nd Annual Defense News Conference yesterday, in an panel on artificial intelligence that kept circling back to underlying questions of great power competition.

“Fully autonomous maneuver is an ambitious, heretical terminology,” Kott said. “Fully autonomous is more than just mobility, it's about decision making.”

If there is a canon against which this autonomy seems heretical, it is likely the international community's recent conference and negotiations over how, exactly, to permit or restrict lethal autonomous weapon systems. The most recent meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems took place last week in Geneva, Switzerland and concluded with a draft of recommendations on Aug. 31st.

This diplomatic process, and the potential verdict of international law, could check or halt the development of AI-enabled weapons, especially ones where machines select and attack targets without human interventions. That's the principle objection raised by humanitarian groups like the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, as well as the nations that called for a preemptive ban on such autonomous weapons.

Kott understands the ethical concern, drawing an analogy to the moral concerns and tradeoffs in developing self driving cars.

“All know about self driving cars, all the angst, the issue of mobility... take all this concern and multiply it by orders of magnitude and now you have the issues of mobility on the battlefield,” said Kott. “Mobile intelligent entities on the battlefield have to deal with a much more unstructured, much less orderly environment than what self-driving cars have to do. This is a dramatically different world of urban rubble and broken vehicles, and all kind of dangers, in which we are putting a lot of effort.”

Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2018/09/06/fully-autonomous-maneuver-coming-to-the-battlefields-of-the-future

On the same subject

January 14, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Parly annonce un programme de Rafale à €2 mds pour les forces françaises
BORDEAUX, 13 janvier (Reuters) - La ministre des Armées Florence Parly indique dans un entretien à paraître lundi dans Sud-Ouest qu'elle annoncera le lancement d'un nouveau programme de Rafale pour un montant de près de 2 milliards d'euros pour les forces aériennes françaises. La commande, qui sera annoncée lundi lors de sa visite aux usines Dassault Aviation de Mérignac (Gironde), porte sur des Rafale au standard F4 dont les premiers exemplaires seront livrés dès 2023. “Le Rafale F4 bénéficiera d'une connectivité, d'une fiabilité et d'une capacité à contrer les menaces renforcées. Ces améliorations amèneront cet appareil au niveau des avions de dernière génération et permettront à nos forces aériennes de maintenir leur supériorité dans des espaces de plus en plus contestés”, précise Florence Parly. Le contrat de près de 2 milliards d'euros est une bonne nouvelle pour le constructeur aéronautique français qui emploie à Mérignac 1.400 personnes et pour ses sous-traitants. “La loi de programmation militaire prévoit également, en 2023, une commande de 30 nouveaux avions pour des livraisons qui s'échelonneront entre 2027 et 2030. Entre-temps, l'usine Dassault sera bien occupée puisqu'elle livrera à l'armée de l'air des Rafale en version 3 à hauteur de 28 exemplaires entre 2022 et 2024. Nous en avons déjà reçu trois en 2018”, indique la ministre. Florence Parly rappelle les grands contrats déjà signés pour la vente de Rafale à l'Inde, le Qatar et l'Egypte, permettant à l'usine Dassault de tourner à plein régime jusqu'en 2021 et que “plusieurs appels d'offres vont être lancés, en particulier en Suisse et en Finlande”. “Il y a de nouvelles possibilités. Nous y travaillons activement”, dit-elle. (Claude Canellas, édité par Julie Carriat) https://fr.reuters.com/article/topNews/idFRKCN1P81H5-OFRTP
February 17, 2021 | International, Land

State Department approves possible $197M missile sale to Egypt
By Christen McCurdy Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The State Department approved a possible $197 million deal Tuesday to sell RIM‑116C Rolling Airframe Missiles Block 2 tactical missiles to Egypt. According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Egypt's government has asked to buy up to 168 of the missiles. Its bid also includes shipping and storage containers, operator manuals and technical documentation as well as engineering, technical and logistical and support services. The proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security by "helping to improve the security of a Major Non-NATO Ally country that continues to be an important strategic partner in the Middle East," according to the DSCA's announcement. "The proposed sale will support the Egyptian Navy's Fast Missile Craft ships and provide significantly enhanced area defense capabilities over Egypt's coastal areas and approaches to the Suez Canal," the DSCA said. "Egypt will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces since Egypt already operates previously procured RAM Block 1A missiles," the agency said. Developed and produced cooperatively with Germany, the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is a lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget missile built to destroy anti-ship cruise missiles and asymmetric air and surface threats. Raytheon Missiles & Defense will be the primary contractor on this sale if it goes through. At the end of December, the State Department approved a potential $104 million sale of a Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures System to Egypt. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/02/16/State-Department-approves-possible-197M-missile-sale-to-Egypt/3421613515782/
July 13, 2020 | International, Aerospace

GKN Aerospace continues to support the Gripen’s RM12 engine
GKN Aerospace has signed a follow-on performance based logistics (PBL) contract with the Swedish Armed Forces for the provision of comprehensive support for the GKN Aerospace RM12 engine. The RM12 engine powers the JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighter. This contract follows a series of multi-year RM12 PBL agreements and is expected to be worth approximately USD440M. Under the agreement, GKN Aerospace will continue its support for the day-to-day operations of JAS 39 Gripen C/D users. The company will ensure engine availability for every Swedish Air Force mission as well as for Gripen C/D export customers: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Thailand. This will include the provisioning of technical product support as well as comprehensive maintenance, repair and overhaul including repair development and spare parts supply. Joakim Andersson, president GKN Aerospace Engines said: “We are totally committed to ensuring RM12 engine availability and its secure and safe performance in all operations. At the same time GKN Aerospace closely monitors every aspect of product life cycle cost effectiveness. “With the recognition and award from the customer GKN Aerospace will continue to do its best in keeping this engine's excellent track record, ensuring it is one of the best single engine installations in the world. The company understands the importance of keeping the engine system in active service for many years to come.” The GKN Aerospace RM12 engine has powered the JAS 39 Gripen throughout the approximately 310,000 flight hours this aircraft has already achieved. It is based on the General Electric F404 engine from which it has been developed to include single engine safety criteria, higher performance and greater durability. The primary focus of the development programme for the RM12 engine was to deliver the highest possible operational effectiveness with the most favourable life-cycle cost. GKN Aerospace holds the military type certificate (MTC) for the RM12 engine. www.gknaerospace.com https://www.aero-mag.com/gkn-aerospace-gripen-rm12-08072020/

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