Lockheed Martin Awarded DARPA Contract for AI in Dynamic Airborne Missions.

On July 8, 2024, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $4.6 million contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop artificial intelligence tools for dynamic airborne missions. This initiative is part of DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) program, aiming to enhance modeling and simulation approaches and deploy dominant AI agents for live, multi-ship, beyond visual range (BVR) missions. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Lockheed Martin will employ AI and machine learning techniques to develop surrogate models for aircraft, sensors, electronic warfare, and weapons, all within dynamic and operationally representative environments (Picture source: Lockheed Martin)

The project signifies a significant investment in revolutionary technologies essential for national security and addresses the evolving needs of defense clients.

The AIR program seeks to improve the speed and predictive performance of government-provided baseline models to better reflect the real-world performance of Department of Defense systems. Over an 18-month period, Lockheed Martin will employ AI and machine learning techniques to develop surrogate models for aircraft, sensors, electronic warfare, and weapons, all within dynamic and operationally representative environments.

Discussing the program, Gaylia Campbell, Vice President of Engineering and Technology for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, emphasized the importance of advanced technologies in complex airborne missions. Campbell highlighted that DARPA's AIR program will leverage state-of-the-art scientific ML technology and Lockheed Martin’s ARISE™ infrastructure to generate vast amounts of data. This data will enable military personnel to make faster and more informed decisions, leading to significant cost savings for the Department of Defense. Additionally, it will lay the groundwork for future AI defense solutions, ensuring that the United States and its allies maintain their competitive edge in various scenarios.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is leading innovative projects in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance national security. Recent initiatives include the Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, which successfully conducted autonomous flight tests where an AI-piloted F-16 executed aerial combat maneuvers against a human-piloted aircraft. These tests mark a milestone in AI development and weaponization, showcasing the AI’s ability to perform complex missions in real-world environments.

DARPA is also focused on improving cybersecurity through AI development. The AI Cyber Challenge employs generative AI technologies, such as large language models, to automatically identify and fix vulnerabilities in critical open-source software. This initiative aims to prevent technological breakthroughs by potential adversaries and create strategic advantages for the United States.

Furthermore, DARPA emphasizes trust in autonomous systems. A key objective is to develop AI capable of making critical decisions for military personnel while ensuring transparency and understanding of decision-making processes. To achieve this, DARPA collaborates with industry and academic partners to develop transformative capabilities through various challenges and competitions.