Page 18 - ADT JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2023 Online Magazine

ronments where processing at the edge will
play a crucial role,” said Dr. Chris Jones, HYDRA
project technical authority. “This is a fantastic
example of our two nations working in close col-
laboration, learning from each other to jointly
accelerate our understanding of the kinds of
novel technologies which will become critical for
successful operation of autonomous systems in
complex operating environments in the future.”

The PC22 and ICE4 trials are part of a series
of rotational events hosted by the joint and
international signatories of the Autonomy and learning can augment our existing sensor product lines and the
Artificial Intelligence Collaboration, or AAIC, question is: ‘How can we utilise machine learning technology to
partnership agreement. The four-year partner- help military commanders make decisions?’” said Shane Zabel, AI
ship agreement aims to accelerate joint U.K.-U.S. Technology Director for Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S). “How
technology development and share AI capabil- do we embed some kind of learning machine to go with the sensors
ities, spanning from foundational research to to help better execute the mission?”…“It’s all about harnessing the
joint experiments, ultimately advancing the joint speed potential AI and ML offer.” Raytheon Intelligence & Space is
all-domain command and control capabilities currently developing a Common Tactical Edge Network, or CTEN,
of both nations. in support of the U.S. Air Force’s ABMS.

BAE SYSTEMS AIR RI&S is one of nine companies selected to demonstrate portions
of the network, where in it will build upon advanced networking
OPERATIONS PLANNERS products previously developed, to demonstrate an architecture that
The AFRL, which is focussing on AI to provide enables aerial network interoperability. RI&S will expand its expertise
commanders with more options faster and with in model-based systems engineering and DevSecOps as the basis
more details to ensure the most robust plan, for the design to support this development. Northrop Grumman
recently awarded BAE Systems a US$17 mil- Corporation has also been contracted for modernising the AFRL/RI’s
lion contract to introduce AI into an interactive intelligence information collection, sharing and analysis capabilities
game environment to revolutionise air oper- using the state-of-the-art AI solutions. The US$406 million contract
ations planning for contested environments. is towards developing an Intelligence Systems Infrastructure, Tools
As part of the Fight Tonight programme, BAE and Enhancements (InSITE) programme to advance information
Systems will provide air operations planners with collection and analysis across its customer set.
the tools they need to dramatically acceler-
ate the process of planning complex air attack InSITE will enable warfighters to make faster, better-informed deci-
operations. sions to deny, disrupt or defeat threats across all domains. “Our
innovative solutions will meet today’s advancing threats at unprec-
Under the terms of the Technical Area 2, Plan edented speed and accuracy, transforming decision-making and
Gaming and Outcome Analysis contract, BAE analysis,” said Rebecca Torzone, vice president and general man-
Systems’ FAST LabsT research and develop- ager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman.
ment organisation, along with subcontractors Utilising its digital capabilities, Northrop Grumman will provide
Uncharted Software and Kestrel Institute, will cloud-enabled applications to foster data exchanges across U.S.
develop a solution to rapidly generate and Department of Defence and Intelligence Community customer cen-
review multiple plans and select the most robust. ters and satellite locations, including the U.S. Space Force’s recently
established National Space Intelligence Center in support of “One
Mike Miller, technical director for BAE Systems’ AFRL, Two Services.”
FAST Labs, said: “The drag-and-drop video
game-like interactions would reduce the time The Air Force is aiming for AI readiness by 2025 and becoming AI
it takes to make a series of incremental adjust- competitive by 2027, according to Chief Data and AI Officer Maj. Gen.
ments to a plan from hours to minutes.” John Olson. The Air Force has several projects underway leveraging
AI across a broad spectrum of use cases, including both predictive
Long manual planning cycles often result in the and preventative air maintenance, crew and aircraft scheduling,
consideration of fewer potential plan options. To space imagery, data collection and human-machine teaming. “We
address this challenge, the technology will pro- don’t have just one significant AI or [machine-learning (ML)] pro-
vide an interactive user interface that enables gramme, we have a plethora of them and that’s growing almost
planners to rapidly explore and access plausible exponentially,” Olson said. “We see data in AI/ML readiness and
futures and select the best plans in a dynamic the operationalisation of that is a critical, almost ubiquitous part of
environment. “We’re looking at how machine everything that we do not only now but as we evolve to the future.”
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