The American military agency DARPA intends to integrate artificial intelligence algorithms in fighter battles. A simulation was carried out with the participation of F-16 aircraft.
DARPA recently tested the possibilities of integrating artificial intelligence in air combat. Last month, the agency conducted tests in which two simulated F-16 fighters took part – their task was to defeat the enemy plane together. The test is part of the so-called ACE (Air Combat Evolution) program and its first phase, in which air combat is studied in the context of e.g. machine learning.
DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program is half way through Phase 1 and has notched several key accomplishments in anticipation of live subscale aircraft dogfights in Phase 2 later this year
“Our biggest focus at the end of Phase 1 is on the simulation-to-real transition of the AI algorithms as we prepare for live-fly sub-scale aircraft scenarios in late 2021,” said Col. Dan “Animal” Javorsek, program manager in DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office. “Managing this transition to the real world is a critical test for most AI algorithms. In fact, prior efforts have been brittle to just these types of transitions because some solutions can be over-reliant on digital artefacts from the simulation environment.”
Watch the short movie about “Phase 1” on the YouTube channel, DARPAtv !!!
According to DARPA, the goal of the program is to create a trusted, scalable AI-managed air combat autonomy system that would also be the result of human-machine collaboration. As you can see in the video below, which explains the entire test, two F-16 fighters were to knock down the enemy plane.
Let me add that the US military has recently also tested new tools for fighting in cyberspace – and there it apparently needs more ways to conduct battles. The US Army also intends to buy 40,000. ultramodern goggles, which include they will allow you to “see through the walls”.
Modern Goggle.
The Americans will spend several hundred million dollars for this purpose, but it will probably be money well invested. The goggles will offer some impressive possibilities, including “seeing through walls”.
They have been working on IVAS goggles for quite a few years and want to buy as much as 40,000 pieces of this equipment that will be used by soldiers around the world. These are mainly to be infantry units, which, thanks to IVAS goggles, will receive much better understanding on the battlefield.
The goggles are able to receive images from cameras placed around the armored transport vehicle, thanks to which soldiers who are inside the machine and equipped with goggles can look through its walls, seeing what is happening outside the vehicle. The goggles will also offer other possibilities, e.g. looking around the corners of a building or a corridor, providing the soldier with an image from a webcam attached to his weapon. The goggles can also receive an image from a thermal imaging telescope, offering the soldier a better view of the battlefield at night.
The general assumption is that the goggles work similarly to a fighter pilot’s helmet, offering soldiers a range of information in the form of a digital display, e.g. a map with GPS coordinates. The American command assumed that it would spend 40,000 on the purchase. IVAS goggles $ 1.1 billion, and Congress cut that amount by twenty per cent. This does not change the fact that soldiers are already training with this type of devices and their implementation into active service units seems to be a matter of time.
Sources:
– https://bit.ly/3fcfLSK – photo 1 DARPA’s logo
– https://bit.ly/2Pq6wDK – photo 2 and article from DARPA
– https://bit.ly/3fa272p – photo 3
Author: Michał Żelazo
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