14 juin 2023 | International, C4ISR
What war elephants can teach us about the future of AI in combat
Inspired by the historical relationship between humans and war elephants, we can develop a similar partnership between military personnel and AI.
8 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on May 07, 2020 at 5:07 PM
WASHINGTON: As the Army urgently develops weapons to counter Russia and China, it's largely staying on its tight schedule despite both the COVID-19 pandemic and the service's own history of dysfunction and delay. A prime example is the Future Vertical Lift initiative to replace existing helicopters and drones, which is on track for all but two of more than 20 major events – from field tests to contract awards – happening this year. Half a dozen are scheduled for May and June alone.
What's the biggest impact COVID has had on FVL so far? Of the five project managers who spoke to reporters this morning, just one said he's definitely delaying something, a Critical Design Review for the new Improved Turbine Engine. How big was that delay? Just two weeks.
The engine system CDR will start June 15th instead of June 1st, said the turbine PM, Col. Roger Kuykendall. But the deadline to complete the review wasn't until October, he went on, “so we're actually still ahead of our schedule.”
The other major impact has been on combat units field-testing potential Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System drones, but that's still in flux, said the unmanned aircraft PM, Col. Scott Anderson. Masked soldiers began flying one contending design, the Arcturus JUMP-20, began at Fort Riley a month ago. The second test unit, at Fort Campbell, started flying a different contender last week, as planned, Col. Anderson said. The third unit, at Fort Lewis, was scheduled to start in June: “The had asked to move back to July,” he said, “but it looks like, as of this morning, they're going to maybe try to come back to June.”
That the FTUAS field tests are happening mostly on schedule is particularly remarkable, because it takes a team of soldiers to operate and maintain the drones, and they can't maintain social distancing all the time. Most of the other FVL projects are in different stages of development where schedules, while packed, are full of activities that are a lot easier to do online, like planning sessions and digital design. But even where physical objects have to be built or flown, the project managers stay they're staying on schedule.
For the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft to replace the Reagan-era UH-60 Black Hawk, PM Col. David Phillips said, “our demonstrators are continuing to fly.” Those are the Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor and the Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 Defiant compound helicopter, which despite the term of art “demonstrator” are de facto prototypes. The companies are now refining their designs and, in 2022, the Army will choose one for mass production. While Phillips didn't provide details like flight hours – the Defiant has had a lot fewer so far – he said both aircraft are still providing test data to mature key technologies like flight controls.
FLRAA's smaller sister is the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, a light scout to replace the retired OH-58 Kiowa. Once again it's Bell and Sikorsky competing, but for FARA they haven't built the prototypes yet. Those are set to fly in 2023. (That said, Sikorsky's existing S-97 Raider is very close to their FARA design). Most of the work this year is being spent on digital design, said the FARA PM, Col. Gregory Fortier, but that should finish by December, so preparations to build the physical prototypes do have to get underway now.
“We have currently seen no impact, [but] there are certainly concerns within Bell and Sikorsky about long lead materials and shipping and the [subcontractors] at the second and third tier,” Col Fortier said. “They are okay with the summer timeframe and into the fall,” Fortier said. “If this thing stretches six months to a year, then that's a different conversation.”
The FARA scout, FLRAA transport, and future drones will all have as many components in common as possible, especially electronics, and need to seamlessly share both tactical and maintenance data. To make this happen, they're being designed to a common set of technical standards known as the Modular Open System Architecture, allowing the Army to plug-and-play MOSA-compliant components from any company for both maintenance and upgrades.
While existing Army aircraft can't be retrofitted with the complete open architecture, the Army plans to upgrade them with a mini-MOSA called the Aviation Mission Common Server. AMCS will both provide some of the benefits of open architecture to the current fleet and real-world experience to help build the future system.
AMCS, too, remains on schedule, the project manager said. “We are currently on track to award an OTA [Other Transaction Authority contract] in June 2020 and negotiations are currently ongoing,” Col. Johnathan Frasier said.
The Schedule To Stay On
Future Vertical Lift is doing a lot this year. Here's a list of most – not all – of the things they've accomplished so far and what they aim to do. A startling amount of it is due in June.
Modular Open Systems Architecture (involves multiple project managers)
Engine & Electrical (PM: Col. Roger Kuykendal)
Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (PM: Col. David Phillips)
Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (PM: Col. Gregory Fortier)
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PM: Col. Scott Anderson)
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/covid-cant-stop-a-busy-summer-for-army-fvl
14 juin 2023 | International, C4ISR
Inspired by the historical relationship between humans and war elephants, we can develop a similar partnership between military personnel and AI.
17 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité
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Une étude vient mettre en avant l'impact de l'intelligence artificielle dans les armées, à la fois sur un plan opérationnel et industriel. L'IA, facteur d'innovation. La révolution et les évolutions apportées par l'intelligence artificielle ne sont plus à démontrer. Dans le monde civil comme militaire, algorithmes et IA viennent apporter un complément d'information et représentent une plus-value, d'autant plus incontestable dans le domaine militaire. L'ensemble des armées du monde ont bien compris la nécessité de se tourner vers le big data et l'IA afin d'innover et de parvenir à conserver une supériorité opérationnelle sur l'adversaire. Les stratégies d'IA appliquées à la défense se multiplient et s'accompagnent généralement de réflexions sur les questions éthiques, dans un contexte occidental où l'emploi de SALA est vivement critiqué. Compétition internationale. Market Forecast a consacré une étude à ce sujet, et est venu analyser les impacts de l'IA au domaine de la Défense. C'est-à-dire aussi bien les apports pour les armées que la façon dont les travaux sont menés par les industriels. Nommé « Artificial Intelligence will arm defense contractors for global growth », ce rapport met en avant la façon dont les Etats se sont tournés vers cette nouvelle technologie afin de venir compléter les moyens de leurs armées. « Des nations comme la Chine ou la Russie réalisent des investissements substantiels dans l'IA pour des applications militaires, venant parfois poser des questions au regard du droit international et des droits humains », peut-on lire dans le rapport de Market Forecast. Des investissements visant ainsi à concurrencer les pays membres de l'OTAN, qui se sont eux aussi tournés largement vers l'intelligence artificielle afin de renforcer les capacités de leurs plateformes. Volet industriel. Mais l'adoption de l'IA dans les technologies de défense vient également questionner le tissu industriel. Selon Market Forecast, dans une grande majorité des cas, les Etats devront se tourner vers de nouvelles entreprises, plus petites et souvent non issues du secteur de la Défense afin de pouvoir se doter d'algorithmes performants. « Par exemple, aux Etats-Unis, plus de 60% des contrats tournés vers l'IA, inscrits dans le budget présidentiel de l'année fiscale 2017, sont menés par des acteurs non traditionnels de la Défense et des petits fournisseurs », rapporte Market Forecast. S'il n'y a aucun doute sur le fait que les géants de la défense et fournisseurs historiques continueront à mener leur activité, beaucoup s'appuieront donc sur de plus petites structures, spécialisées, afin d'intégrer la brique IA. En France, on peut ainsi penser à la petite entreprise EarthCube, qui malgré sa taille réduite et son jeune 'ge fait fortement parler d'elle et est parvenue à décrocher d'importants contrats dans la défense. Elle en a même fait son cœur d'activité. A l'avenir, les géants de la défense devront donc marcher aux côtés des plus petits et apprendre à collaborer avec ces structures qui portent elles aussi l'innovation. Car en effet, le marché de l'IA pour la défense devrait connaître un taux de croissance annuel moyen de 10,29% entre 2020 et 2028, démontrant l'importance de cette technologie qui offre d'importants débouchés commerciaux. https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/lintelligence-artificielle-fait-voluer-le-paysage-de-la-dfense-22924