(Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)įor the last 20 years, the Air Force has flown drones like the MQ-9 Reaper in the largely permissive environments of the Middle East and Afghanistan, conducting airstrikes and feeding the military’s insatiable need for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.īut the next war will need much more. During the flight test, DARPA said it successfully recovered a Gremlin in midair for the first time. “This is a natural evolution, especially when you look at the capability today with respect to AI, with respect to systems, with respect to the computing power and capability you can put in a particular size” aircraft, noted Carlisle, who is now the chief executive of the National Defense Industrial Association.Īn X-61 Gremlin drone and a C-130 conduct a flight test by DARPA at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah on Oct. Hawk Carlisle, a retired general who formerly led Air Combat Command, said the ability to extend an aircraft’s reach with AI-infused wingmen is the next step for air combat. The armed service in March 2021 announced a $115 million contract with Boeing for three more autonomous Loyal Wingman drones, which would bring the force’s total to six aircraft that it hopes to one day fly alongside manned fighters. The Royal Australian Air Force has also made strides the way with its Loyal Wingman program, also known as the Airpower Teaming System. Last October, the agency flew and successfully recovered in midair a small Gremlin drone for the first time. More recently, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency made progress on its X-61A Gremlins program, which seeks to deploy and then recover swarms of small, sensor-laden drones from cargo planes in flight. The Air Force Research Laboratory laid the groundwork for a future manned-unmanned teaming through its Skyborg program, an artificial intelligence-driven wingman that underwent its first flight test in a drone last April.
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