August 23, 2022 | International, Aerospace
After 64 days, the Army’s drone that wouldn’t die has died [Updated]
A eulogy to the solar-powered Airbus Zephyr S drone that surpassed expectations and broke records while flying over several states.
June 18, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Israel’s Rafael integrates artificial intelligence into Spice bombs
By: Seth J. Frantzman and Kelsey D. Atherton
Rafael Advanced Defense System's Spice bombs now have a new technological breakthrough as the Israeli company enables its Spice 250 with artificial intelligence alongside automatic target recognition to be used with scene-matching technology.
The Spice 250, which can be deployed on quad racks under the wings of warplanes like the F-16, has a 75-kilogram warhead and a maximum range of 100 kilometers with its deployable wings.
Its electro-optic scene-matching technology — which involves uploading terrain data onto the bomb and combining it with real-time electro-optic imagery — allows the weapon to work in GPS-denied environments. And the bomb can use this autonomous capability to navigate and correct its location, according to Gideon Weiss, Rafael's deputy general manager of marketing and business development at the company's air and C4I division.
With its AI and “deep learning” technologies, the weapon has the ability to identity moving ground targets and distinguish them from other objects and terrain. This is based on 3D models uploaded to the bomb as well as algorithms. As the weapon identifies and homes in on its target, such as a convoy of vehicles, it separates the convoy of interest from other vehicles it has “learned” to ignore.
“The deep-learning algorithm is indifferent to the actual data fed to it for modeling targets of interest and embedding their pertaining characteristics into the system," Weiss said. "However, the more the data used for modeling is representative of the target of interest, the more robust the recognition probability will be in real life.”
Rafael has completed the development and testing phase of the Spice 250, including flight tests, which have “proven the robustness of the ATA and ATR, so it is mature for delivery,” Weiss said, using acronyms for automatic target acquisition and recognition.
Asked if the ATR algorithm will select a secondary target if the computer cannot find the initial human-selected target, Weiss said: “This goes into the area of user-defined policies and rules of engagement, and it is up to the users to decide on how to apply the weapon, when and where to use it, and how to define target recognition probabilities and its eventuality.”
Automatically selecting a secondary target may eventually become part of the upgrade profile for the munition, if customers express significant interest in the feature.
With a two-way data link and a video-streaming capability, the bomb can be aborted or told to re-target up until a “few second before the weapon hits its target,” Weiss explained. That two-way data-link, enabled by the weapon's mounting on a Smart Quad Rack, or SQR, will enable future deep learning to be based on data extracted from earlier launches. Data recorded will include either live-streaming video or a burst of still images of the entire homing phase up until impact.
“These are automatically and simultaneously recorded on the SQR — enabling two functions: (a) real-time and post-mission BDI (Bomb Damage Indication); (b) post-mission target data extraction for intel updates, etc.," Weiss said. "The ATR capability, including its deep learning updates, must be more agile than the enemy's ability to conceal and/or change its battlefield footprint, tactics, appearance or anything else which might impede the ATR from accurately recognizing and destroying targets.”
The Spice family of weapons is operational with the Israeli Air Force and international customers.
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March 1, 2023 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Air Force advisers study use of satellites for tracking moving targets
The board will consider the risks and challenges associated with using satellites to perform the mission alongside aircraft.
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December 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Space Force selects new prototype consortium manager
Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has found a new manager for its expanded prototyping organization — the Space Enterprise Consortium — which will oversee $12 billion in awards for space-related projects over the next 10 years. The Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development Corps selected National Security Technology Accelerator, known as NSTXL, to manage its SpEC Reloaded portfolio to adopt ever-evolving innovations before they're outdated. SMC expects to issue the award on Dec. 31, following a required 30-day congressional notification period. Launched in 2017, SpEC has doled out prototyping awards for everything from new ground systems to a Link 16-enabled space vehicle that shows the location of friendly and enemy forces. SpEC has reduced contract award timelines by 36 percent, grown membership by 55 percent year over year to 441 members, and awarded 80 prototype efforts cumulatively valued at $856 million, according to SMC. “There's no question that SpEC has been an overwhelming success for the government programs that have utilized it to accelerate their prototyping, and for the consortium members to gain a better understanding on the USSF's architectural direction,” said Col. Tim Sejba, program executive officer for SMC's Space Development Corps. Perhaps most importantly, SpEC provides an opening for nontraditional companies to begin working with the Department of Defense on space systems. SpEC helps connect vendors with organizations including the Space Rapid Capabilities Office or even the intelligence community's National Reconnaissance Office using other transaction authorities. OTAs allow “us to get on contract much faster than traditional approaches,” SMC head Lt. Gen. John Thompson said in November. “In addition, the vehicle really lowers the bar for nontraditional contractors to become part of national security space efforts, makes it easier for them to get in the door. In fact, 350 of those 430 members of the consortium are really nontraditional contractors or academic organizations.” The Space Force awarded the initial $100 million SpEC management contract to the Advanced Technology Institute in 2017 to manage the consortium through November 2022. However, the consortium's early success convinced the Space Force to revamp the effort with a significantly larger budget and an increased focus on cybersecurity. “We are honored to contribute to U.S. space advancement,” NSTXL CEO Tim Greeff said. “This has been a very successful program thus far, and we look forward to taking it to next level to unlock more value for the U.S. military by engaging more nontraditional defense companies and bringing great innovation to the nascent Space Force.” NSTXL also supports the U.S. Army's Training and Readiness Accelerator (TReX), the Navy's Strategic & Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S2MARTS), and the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Energy OTA. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/12/15/space-force-selects-new-prototype-consortium-manager/