14 May 2020: As battle space becomes increasingly competitive and challenging the emergence of newer and more advanced technologies for acquiring critical intelligence from the enemy territory becomes more and more important. Keeping this in view Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Air Force Pilot School successfully demonstrated an autonomous Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) system.
In the first test of the Autonomous ISR system, it was integrated in an F-16 using a Lockheed Martin-developed pod solution. The system was able to detect, identify the target location, automatically route to the target and also capture the target's image, all of this in a simulated denied communications environment.
Capt. Josh Rountree, Test Management Project Lead at the US Air Force Test Pilot School said, "As a remotely piloted aircraft pilot, having the opportunity to test an emerging technology and see it perform functions required for operations in denied communications environments sparks the imagination of what is possible in future ISR systems."
Apart from enhancing operational effectiveness the war fighter also stays out of harm's way and achieves the mission objectives.
Proud of the accomplished testing, George Hellstern, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works program manager for artificial intelligence solutions said, " As the battle space becomes increasingly contested, human-machine teams will enable operators to collect critical intelligence in denied communications environments, ensuring our war fighters get information they need when they need it. We are proud to partner to advance a novel capability, allowing the war fighter to adapt in a rapidly changing operational environment and still get critical data to perform the mission."
With newer threats emerging, AI will enable collaborative operations between the human-machine team to project power in the face of an increasingly contested environment.