May 29, 2020 | International, C4ISR

How Army Futures Command plans to grow soldiers’ artificial intelligence skills

WASHINGTON — With artificial intelligence expected to form the backbone of the U.S. military in the coming decades, the Army is launching a trio of new efforts to ensure it doesn't get left behind, according to the head of Army Futures Command.

While speaking at an event Wednesday hosted by the Defense Writers Group, Gen. Mike Murray was asked about areas that need more attention as his command works to modernize the force.

Murray pointed to a change in how the service does long-term planning, as well as two personnel efforts that could pay off in the long run.

The first is something Murray has dubbed “Team Ignite,” which he described as “ad hoc, right now,” with a hope to formalize the process in the future. In essence, this means bringing in the teams that write the concept of operations for the military and having them work next to the technologists driving research and development efforts so that everything is incorporated early.

“It has occurred to me for a long time that when we prepare concepts about how we will fight in the future, they are usually not informed by scientists and what is potentially out there in terms of technology,” Murray said. “And when we invest in technologies, rarely do we consult the concept writers to understand what type of technology will fundamentally change the way we fight in the future.”

In Murray's vision, this means soon there will be “a concept writer saying, ‘If only I could [do something we can't do now], this would fundamentally change the way we would fight,' and a scientist or technologist saying, ‘Well, actually we can, you know, another 10-15 years,' and then vice versa,” he said. “Really using that to drive where we're investing our science and technology dollars, so that in 10 or 15 years we actually can fundamentally change the way we're going to fight.”

The Futures Command chief also laid out two new efforts to seed understanding of AI throughout the force, saying that “a key component of the Army moving more and more into the area of artificial intelligence is the talent that we're going to need in the formation to do that.”

Murray described a ”recently approved” masters program to be run through Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on bringing in “young officers, noncommissioned officers and warrant officers” to teach them about artificial intelligence. The course features four to five months of actual learning in the classroom, followed by five or six months working for the Army's AI Task Force. After that, the officers are sent back the force, bringing with them their AI experience.

Additionally, Murray is in the early stages of standing up what he described as a “software factory” to try and identify individual service members who have some computer skills, pull them out of their normal rotations and give them training on “basic coding skills” before sending them back to the force.

“We're going to need a lot of these types of people. This is just [the] beginning, to seed the Army with the types of talent we're going to need in the future if we're going to take advantage of data, if we're going to take advantage of artificial intelligence in the future,” he said.

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/05/28/how-army-futures-command-plans-to-grow-ai-skills-in-the-service/

On the same subject

December 9, 2020 | International, Naval

The US Navy wants to find ships to kill using aerial drones launched from submarines
By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON – The name of the game in the Pacific is stand-off range. But with longer range torpedoes and anti-ship missiles in the arsenal, submariners are looking to a new domain to help them extend their deadly reach: The air. In an October request for information, Naval Sea Systems Command's Submarine Combat and Weapons Control Program Office asked industry for input into a “Submarine-Launched Unmanned Aerial System,” or SLUAS, currently in development. The Navy has been interested in sub-launched drones for some time and has been testing prototypes, but the RFI shows the service is getting serious about the idea as it adds longer-range torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles to the arsenal of its attack submarines. The idea for the SLUAS is an ambitious one. The drone would launch from a submerged submarine out of a 3-inch ejector tube used for sonobuoys, flares and countermeasures among other things. The battery-operated UAS would then deploy its wings and operate for an hour, well beyond the range visible from just the low-in-the-water periscope. Additionally, the UAS should have an “electro-optic capability with reliable target solution analysis,” the RFI said, adding that it should be able to “operate at ranges out to the line-of-sight radio horizon, and use a variable bandwidth encrypted datalink with at least 256-bit encryption strength. The drone should also have a degree of autonomy and “include the ability to operate in an emission-controlled environment and operate without constant radio communication links.” “Every submarine has a 3-inch launcher, so in theory, every submarine could operate with UASs,” said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow with The Hudson Institute. “The idea is that you would be about the size of a sonobuoy — it could be pretty long — and you'd put it inside a canister. Then you launch this in a canister, it floats to the surface and the USA deploys from there. “And from there it can either connect up with the submarine or it could connect with another unit, and it gives you the ability to have over-the-horizon surveillance.” “The demonstrations have been pretty successful,” Clark added. The responses to the RFI were due in November. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/12/07/the-us-navy-wants-to-find-ships-to-kill-using-aerial-drones-launched-from-submarines/
November 2, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Land

En Allemagne, la plupart des équipements militaires qualifiés de non opérationnels
Véhicules de combat d'infanterie Puma, avions de transport militaire Airbus A400M, avions de combat Eurofighter Typhoon, hélicoptères Tigre et NH90... Ces équipements militaires allemands qui devraient être la fierté de la Bundeswehr ne sont plus considérés dans la plupart des cas comme opérationnels, selon le secrétaire d'État allemand à la Défense. Seul un tiers de matériel militaire mis en service en Allemagne en 2017 peut être aujourd'hui considéré comme opérationnel, a annoncé le journal Stuttgarter Nachrichten en se référant au rapport présenté par Peter Tauber, le secrétaire d'État allemand à la Défense. Selon l'homme politique, sur les 97 véhicules de combat livrés, seuls 38 peuvent être utilisés, soit environ 37% du total. Dans le même temps, la Bundeswehr a l'intention d'augmenter leur taux d'aptitude opérationnelle jusqu'à 70%. «Nous pensons toujours que l'industrie doit atteindre les indicateurs convenus le plus vite possible», est-il indiqué dans le rapport de Peter Tauber. La principale préoccupation du ministère de la Défense concerne les véhicules de combat d'infanterie Puma et les avions de transport militaire Airbus A400M. Ainsi, sur les 71 Puma livrés à la Bundeswehr l'an dernier, seuls 27 sont considérés comme aptes au combat, tandis que sur huit A400M, seuls quatre avions de transport militaire peuvent être utilisés. En outre, seul un avion de combat bi-réacteur Eurofighter Typhoon sur quatre a été qualifié d'opérationnel. Sur sept hélicoptères Tigre, seulement deux sont opérationnels, et sur sept hélicoptères polyvalents NH90, seuls quatre sont en état d'être utilisés par la Bundeswehr, indique Die Welt. À la fin d'août, The National Interest avait qualifié de «honteux» l'état de la Marine allemande. Selon le média, la flotte du plus riche pays de l'Union européenne se retrouve pratiquement dans la même situation qu'en 1941 lorsque les navires allemands n'avaient pas pu faire face aux b'timents modernes des Alliés. https://fr.sputniknews.com/defense/201810311038714446-allemagne-equipements-militaires-non-oprationnels/
November 14, 2018 | International, Land

The Corps already is looking for a new light tactical vehicle
By: Shawn Snow Recon and infantry Marines only have been zooming around in the Corps' Polaris MRZR all-terrain tactical vehicles for a couple years now, but the Marines already are on the hunt for a replacement. According to a request for information posted by the Corps on Friday, the Marines want a new ultralight tactical vehicle with characteristics strikingly familiar to the MRZR. The Corps wants a highly mobile all-terrain light tactical vehicle capable of whisking wounded Marines off the battlefield, easily configurable to support a host of missions like electronic warfare, and internally transportable by CH-53 and MV-22. The Corps already has this capability in the Polaris MRZR. The Marines already have doled out nearly 248 of the all-terrain vehicles to infantry and recon Marines over the past couple years. The first batch of MRZRs were issued to the grunts in early 2017. But the life expectancy of the MRZR, or utility task vehicle, is only five years: “Therefore the Marine Corps is initiating research efforts to see what industry will have available that may meet the Corps' needs,” Manny Pacheco, a spokesman for PEO Land Systems, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement. The Corps has been innovative with its tactical dune buggy, even mounting a counter drone system on a pair of MRZRs. That system, known as the light Marine air defense integrated system, or LMADIS, uses electronic warfare to take down drones. An LMADIS system is currently deployed with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The current MRZR fielded by the Corps is capable of hauling nearly 1,500 pounds of supplies, which alleviates some of the burden carried by infantry Marines. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/11/13/the-corps-is-already-looking-for-a-new-light-tactical-vehicle

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