Imagine Top Gun without pilots. Not exactly summer blockbuster material. But that is what the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has in mind for the future of the military. According to an announcement spotted by The Register, the agency recently handed out a multi-million dollar contract that will push forward its autonomous pilot program that will eventually deploy planes into warfare without a human being behind the control stick.
The contract, announced earlier this week, was awarded to Systems and Technology Research, a real company and not a front with the most vague name imaginable, and will provide the company with $11.3 million to work on DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) program. The contract is for phase two of the project, which DARPA describes as “Developing AI-driven algorithmic approaches which enable real-time distributed autonomous tactical execution within uncertain, dynamic, and complex operational environments.” Which seems like it’s probably a very technical way of saying “operating in the air.”
The expectation of the agency is that Systems and Technology Research and any other contractor participating in the program develop these systems using existing sensor and weapons technologies. They will be required, through a series of tests and simulations, to eventually meet some currently undefined benchmarks that show the capability of producing “an uncrewed combat aerial vehicle.”
According to DARPA, the AIR program aims to develop “AI-driven tactical autonomy” that can eventually deploy unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) as part of air combat missions. The program is something of a stage two to the agency’s Air Combat Evolution initiative, which previously managed to allow AI to take control of an F-16 mid-flight and engage in dogfights against human pilots. An AI system developed as part of ACE previously beat human pilots in virtual dogfights, as well.
Systems and Technology Research appears to be the first company to receive an invitation into phase two of DARPA’s program, suggesting it has already completed the first stated goal of “Creating fast and accurate models that capture uncertainty and automatically improve with more data.” According to The Register, defense contracting giants Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems have also been involved in the first stages of the program, but have not been confirmed to be a part of phase two, which will see DARPA shrink its group of prospective contractors from six to four.
DARPA has its eyes on the skies with this program, but it is also going autonomous in the seas. Earlier this week, it announced the christening of the USX-1 Defiant, a first-of-its-kind autonomous, unmanned surface vessel, and announced that it was preparing it for the launch of its first at-sea demonstration.