21 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
Signaling a major leap forward for national defense in the digital age, the Air Force flew with artificial intelligence as a working aircrew member onboard a military aircraft for the first time Dec. 15.
The AI algorithm, known as ARTUµ, flew with the pilot, U.S. Air Force Maj. “Vudu”, on a U-2 Dragon Lady assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base. Air Combat Command's U-2 Federal Laboratory researchers developed ARTUµ and trained it to execute specific in-flight tasks that otherwise would be done by the pilot.
The test flight was the result of years of concerted effort within the Air Force to apply cutting-edge technology to military operations as it competes with other world powers in the digital age.
“ARTUµ's groundbreaking flight culminates our three-year journey to becoming a digital force,” said Dr. William Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “Putting AI safely in command of a U.S. military system for the first time ushers in a new age of human-machine teaming and algorithmic competition. Failing to realize AI's full potential will mean ceding decision advantage to our adversaries.”
During this flight, ARTUµ was responsible for sensor employment and tactical navigation, while the pilot flew the aircraft and coordinated with the AI on sensor operation. Together, they flew a reconnaissance mission during a simulated missile strike. ARTUµ's primary responsibility was finding enemy launchers while the pilot was on the lookout for threatening aircraft, both sharing the U-2's radar.
The flight was part of a precisely constructed scenario which pitted the AI against another dynamic computer algorithm in order to prove the new technology.
“We know that in order to fight and win in a future conflict with a peer adversary, we must have a decisive digital advantage,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. “AI will play a critical role in achieving that edge, so I'm incredibly proud of what the team accomplished. We must accelerate change and that only happens when our Airmen push the limits of what we thought was possible.”
After takeoff, the sensor control was positively handed-off to ARTUµ who then manipulated the sensor, based on insight previously learned from over a half-million computer simulated training iterations. The pilot and AI successfully teamed to share the sensor and achieve the mission objectives.
The U-2 Federal Laboratory designed this AI technology to be easily transferable to other systems and plan to further refine the technology. Today's flight provided invaluable data for not only the team to learn from, but also ARTUµ.
“Blending expertise of a pilot with capabilities of machine learning, this historic flight directly answers the National Defense Strategy's call to invest in autonomous systems,” said Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett. “Innovations in artificial intelligence will transform both the air and space domains.”
The U-2 Federal Laboratory is a 15 U.S.C. compliant organization established to bring together a “confluence of warfighter, developer, and acquirer” vertically-integrated under the same operational roof. The lab has developed and been approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish the 20th Laboratory Accreditation Program in the federal government. It promotes “edge development” – a concept to develop new software integration on operational systems in a bounded, safe environment.
The historic flight with AI comes just two months after the U-2 Federal Laboratory team updated inflight software for the first time during a U-2 training mission. The team leveraged the open-source container-orchestration software Kubernetes, another military first.ieve. We want to give the UK the tools it needs to defeat coronavirus and get back on its feet as soon as possible."
19 mai 2024 | International, C4ISR
The branch would be responsible for integrating drones across the Army, providing specialized training as well as leading research and development efforts.
11 mars 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
L'Australie va renforcer les effectifs de son armée d'environ 30 % d'ici à 2040, a annoncé, jeudi 10 mars, son Premier ministre, Scott Morrison. Les forces de défense australiennes atteindront 80 000 personnes, soit un renfort de 18 500 soldats, pour un coût de quelque 38 Md$ australiens (25 Md€ environ), a-t-il déclaré lors d'une conférence de presse dans une caserne de l'armée, à Brisbane. Selon M. Morrison, il s'agit de « la plus forte augmentation » des effectifs des forces de défense « en temps de paix dans l'histoire de l'Australie ». Ce renforcement militaire marque, selon lui, la reconnaissance par son gouvernement des « menaces et de l'environnement auxquels nous sommes confrontés en tant que pays, en tant que démocratie libérale dans l'Indo-Pacifique ». Les Echos du 10 mars
19 mai 2020 | International, Naval
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — An agreement by two German shipyards to merge has dislodged a major legal roadblock in the multibillion-dollar program to build the Navy's MKS 180 large frigate-type warships. The Defence Ministry's confirmation on Friday that German Naval Yards Kiel had dropped its protest against Dutch shipbuilder Damen, who was announced as the winner of the contract in January, was the final building block in a turbulent week for the European naval industry. Days prior, the German shipbuilder said it would merge with Bremen-based Lürssen, giving the latter company the lead in building surface combatants together. Lürssen, for its part, is already part of the MKS 180 team as a subcontractor to Damen, and the Dutch said they would lean heavily on their German partner in building four initial vessels under the program. Earlier this year, German Naval Yards Kiel lamented an unfair evaluation of its MKS 180 bid by the Defence Ministry, announcing it was prepared for a potentially lengthy legal battle. But just as litigious as the company sounded in its public proclamations, industry insiders said there appeared to be a willingness early on by all companies to come to an agreement outside of duking it out in court. Damen, meanwhile, is expected to rethink the distribution of its MKS 180 workshare plan now that the former competitor is also onboard, albeit only by extension. Considerations to that effect would be a “logical next step,” one company official said. “We are pleased with the consolidation of the German shipping industry under the leadership of the Bremer Lürssen Group,” a Damen statement read. “We look forward to intensive cooperation in the future. As Damen, we see this consolidation as a positive development.” The company also believes the merger would “increase the chance of equal cooperation between Northern European countries in the field of naval construction — a development that we can only applaud in an otherwise unevenly distributed European playing field.” That leaves the question of what will happen with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, another losing bidder in the MKS 180 race. The company previously reported to be part of the German consolidation talks, leading to reports that a single, national shipbuilding “champion” was in the works. For now, however, TKMS is still weighing its options, as Reuters reported this week. In one scenario, the shipbuilder could merge with Italy's Fincantieri, with talks ongoing to that effect, according to the news service. It is also possible TKMS could join the other two German yards at a later time. Whatever happens next, it appears a broader move toward naval-industry consolidation may be gaining steam in the wake of the Lürssen-GNY Kiel deal, according to experts. “The cards are reshuffled,” said Sebastian Bruns, a naval analyst with the University of Kiel in northern Germany. “The consolidation is a significant step forward — and potentially not the final evolution in the Central European warship sector yet.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/15/german-shipyard-shuffle-clears-path-for-mks-180-warship-program-to-proceed/