Posted on 09/12/2023 7:08:23 PM PDT by elpadre
The US is set to begin tests of an air-to-air combat drone, pushing the frontiers of artificial intelligence and human judgment in aerial warfare while attempting to ensure affordable mass for great power competition in the skies.
This month, Breaking Defense reported that General Atomics is set to begin flight tests in December of its design for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) LongShot program, which aims to develop an unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) that can launch air-to-air missiles.
General Atomics, a US energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, was awarded a contract from DARPA for Phase 3 of its LongShot effort, which could be worth up to US$94 million, Breaking Defense reported.
The report notes that the drone is expected to significantly increase the engagement range and mission effectiveness of current 4th-generation jet fighters and air-to-air missiles, with flight testing validating primary vehicle handling characteristics and laying the foundation for follow-on development and testing.
Breaking Defense says that the flight testing will validate DARPA’s views on LongShot, a turducken-like unmanned aircraft system to be dropped from a bomber or fighter and potentially used by both the Air Force and Navy.
The same report notes that the project aims to develop a novel UAV that can significantly extend engagement ranges, increase mission effectiveness and reduce the risk to manned aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
excerpted:
“...Despite the rapid advancements in AI capabilities, technology will for the foreseeable future only partially replace the need for human decision-making in dynamic air combat situations.
As such, the ideal man-machine framework for future air operations would operate on a paradigm that combines the adaptability of human judgment with the precision of AI automation.....”
SkyNet became self aware on August 29th…
$94 million? That won’t pay for a feasibility study and travel to present the results.
Now if we can merge that technology with orbiting solar powered satellites.
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