Date Time
AFWERX Agility Prime announces “flying car” military airworthiness, infrastructure milestones
AFWERX Agility Prime announced Dec. 10, during the Accelerate event, a series of milestones for the “flying car” program and discussed new initiatives for 2021, including six sectors for potential “Prime” programs.
“AFWERX Accelerate was a big week with Agility Prime having a ground-breaking ceremony for a simulation facility to allow experimentation from the researcher to the operator in the field,” said
Air Force Materiel Command. The groundbreaking, as well as a “ribbon-cutting ceremony” for the electric aircraft charging station, occurred at Ohio’s Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport; however both events were virtual given the COVID-19 situation.
Kill Web: Why the U.S. Military Sees Speed as the Ultimate Weapon
When it comes to networking an attacking force to expedite sensor-to-shooter time and quicken the “kill web,” information is increasingly viewed as a defining weapon of war.
Information itself, when it comes to networking an attacking force to expedite sensor-to-shooter time and quicken the “kill web,” is increasingly viewed as a defining weapon of war. This premise, which relies often upon an AI-empowered ability to gather, analyze, organize and share time-sensitive data, forms the conceptual backbone of the Pentagon’s emerging Joint All Domain Command Command and Control program (JADC2).
Maj. “Vudu”, a U-2 Dragon Lady pilot assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, prepares to taxi after returning from a training sortie at Beale Air Force, Calif., Dec. 15, 2020. This flight marks a major leap forward for national defense as artificial intelligence took flight aboard a military aircraft for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense. The AI algorithm, developed by Air Combat Command’s U-2 Federal Laboratory, trained the AI to execute specific in-flight tasks that would otherwise be done by the pilot. The flight was part of a specifically constructed scenario pitting the AI against another dynamic computer algorithm in order to prove both the new technology capability, and its ability to work in coordination with a human. (Air Force photograph by Airman 1st Class Luis A. Ruiz-Vazquez)
December 17th, 2020
2020 has been very good to SpaceX with the aerospace transportation firm surpassing a number of milestones and achieving virtually every goal it set out for itself during the year. Both the company’s autonomous and crewed space vehicles operated without any major failures as SpaceX earned its NASA flight certification, along with deals with the US Space Force and private industry. There was one mishap, with its prototype Starship vehicle, during 2020 and even that only slightly set back SpaceX’s march towards market dominance.
The year started with a splash literally. On January 7th, more than a month after it had launched, the Dragon cargo capsule of mission CRS-19 hit the water just west of Baja, California where crews recovered the capsule as well as 3,800 pounds of scientific gear and experiments. The following and aptly named CRS-20 mission in March marked the 20th time overall that SpaceX vehicles have resupplied the ISS and returned
AI Co-pilot Conducts Tactical Navigation, Sensor Employment Aboard U.S.A.F. U-2 Bomber Our Bureau 2067
U.S.A.F. U-2 bomber prepares to take off with AI co-pilot
The U.S. Air Force concluded test flight of its U-2 bomber with artificial intelligence (AI) as a co-pilot on December 15.
The AI algorithm, known as ARTUµ, developed by Air Combat Command’s U-2 Federal Laboratory, trained the AI to execute specific in-flight tasks that would otherwise be done by the pilot. The algorithm flew with the pilot, U.S. Air Force Maj. “Vudu”, on a U-2 Dragon Lady assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base. Air Combat Command’s U-2 Federal Laboratory researchers developed ARTUµ and trained it to execute specific in-flight tasks that otherwise would be done by the pilot, the service announced today.