TECH

New US Air Force drone can fly and fight autonomously

The U.S. Air Force will incorporate a new combat drone to replace its current fleet of 306 MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.
In addition, an AI version of the Skyborg program from the US Air Force Research Laboratory may be installed on the new devices.
In tasks where the MQ-9 Reaper were not very effective, the new drone will have an advantage, having the ability to fly and fight most of the time autonomously, learning from experience.
On June 3, the US Air Force issued a request for information to the aerospace industry for the development of an unmanned artificial intelligence attack platform. According to the announcement, the next generation device is expected to be ready to perform combat missions in 2031.
"The acquisition strategy has not yet been established," said the military entity. In other words, no one yet knows how much it will cost to develop and manufacture this device, writes the Forbes edition.
"The set of hunting and destruction missions provides unmatched combined [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capabilities and attack attributes on a single platform, responding to the Air Force's highest technological demands through its broad capabilities," the edition emphasizes..
In the case of the Reaper, it is controlled by a team of two people, often located thousands of kilometers from the mission site, via satellite.
The new done, on the other hand, should present "autonomy, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, among other capabilities", the request reads.
In particular, the new drone(image above) is expected to include Skyborg - the US Air Force Research Laboratory's advanced program focused on autonomy and artificial intelligence algorithms. In two words: the new system will be able to fight and make decisions for itself. A human operator can decide before a mission the level of autonomy that the drone should have.
The idea is that the unmanned vehicles that accompany manned aircraft are cheap enough not to be a problem to lose them in combat. They will be able to perform a variety of tasks, such as exploring the terrain or concentrating enemy fire in case the group is attacked.

Ria Novosti