August 29, 2024 | International, Land
September 28, 2018 | International, Aerospace
MDA group president notes opportunities for Canada in space
MDA Press Release
Canada's role and potential involvement in the growing new space economy require a commitment from the Government of Canada for a new space strategy that would secure Canada's place as a leader in space, Mike Greenley, the group president of MDA, a Maxar company, said in a speech to the Canadian Club in Ottawa.
“We need a long-term space plan for Canada that establishes the requisite funding to maintain and enhance our existing world-leading capabilities in space robotics, satellite communications, Earth observation and space science, while cultivating new areas of leadership. And we need it now, because there are pressing decisions that need to be made,” said Greenley.
The most urgent question facing Canada is whether the country will participate in the international space community's next big exploration project.
As governments wind down their investments in the International Space Station, the leading spacefaring nations, including the United States, Europe, Japan and Russia, are planning a return to the Moon in the 2020s.
NASA is planning to build a small space station that orbits the Moon, which will serve as a base for lunar exploration, a platform for science experiments, and a gateway to explore deeper space.
Canada's commitment would involve the development of a third-generation Canadarm, the iconic Canadian space robotics technology featured prominently on the five dollar bill.
Canadian space robotics would provide highly visible, innovative and critical lunar gateway operations, including the assembly of the gateway itself (and its ongoing maintenance), the capture of visiting spacecraft, and the enabling of science conducted in the lunar vicinity.
Given the distance to the Moon, these advanced space robotics would need to operate autonomously, powered by Canadian AI technology.
Subsequent contributions could involve lunar rovers and space medicine technology.
“The international community expects Canada to participate in this mission and to provide the advanced robotics systems for the Lunar Gateway, our area of expertise that no other country does better,” said Greenley. “It is Canada's role for the taking.”
“Making a commitment to participate in the Lunar Gateway as part of the upcoming space strategy would maintain and enhance Canada's acknowledged world leadership in space robotics and signal to the world that Canada plans to claim its place in the new space economy,” said Greenley.
“The value of the global space market reached US$380 billion in 2017, and analysts forecast it will grow to be a multi-trillion-dollar market in the coming decades.”
Participation in space will not only accelerate innovation and fuel Canada's future competitiveness, but will also maintain our country's ability to influence the global discussion around space, said Greenley.
“We know how important it is for Canada to be part of the conversation,” said Greenley. “A re-commitment to space would enhance our ability to participate in shaping developments in space and bolster emerging areas of Canadian expertise like space law.”
Greenley said MDA and other partners in the Canadian space industry will spend this fall talking to Canadians and elected officials about the importance of space.
https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/mda-group-president-notes-opportunities-for-canada-in-space
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October 21, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Pentagon’s AI hub awards multiple $100M blanket purchasing agreements
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON —The Pentagon's top artificial intelligence office awarded five blanket purchasing agreements potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for technical staffing services. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center awarded five five-year contracts, each with a $100 million ceiling, to Redhorse Corp., Cyber Point International LLC, Elder Research Inc., Barbaricum LLC and Enterprise Resource Performance Inc. According the Oct. 15 contract announcements, the companies will provide “software development, machine learning, cognitive and systems engineering, operations research, and user experience design” services. Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, spokesman for the JAIC, told C4ISRNET that “the contracts will provide key staffing to augment JAIC mission and product teams with positions such as data scientists, engineers, technical writers, and admin assistants.” The ordering period started Sept. 25, 2020, and runs through Sept. 24, 2025. Several of the companies have experience working with Defense Department partners. Redhorse, an AI and machine learning specialist, has supported the Army, Navy and the department itself. Cyber Point, a cybersecurity company, has won several smaller Pentagon contracts over the last five years, while Elder Research has worked with the Defense Department, the Army, the Navy and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Barbaricum, a defense consulting firm, has experience supporting special operations forces across the globe. Enterprise Resource Performance, an IT service provider, has worked with the Army and the Navy. https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/10/20/pentagons-ai-hub-awards-multiple-100m-blanket-purchasing-agreements
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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 https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-05-08