Unmanned military drones team up with manned fighter jets during BAE trial

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By Matthew Griffin Intelligence and the Senses 23rd March 2022

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

The balance of future wars, it can be argued, will be won or lost on the quality of the AI’s that “run” future war machines … but first they have to play nice and team up.

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In the past fighter pilots flew their own jets, and now Artificial Intelligence (AI) is both increasingly becoming their co-pilots, competition, and wing men as its capabilities and skills improve and it moves out of military labs and into the skies.

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Now, in another advance BAE Systems has carried out its most realistic combat exercise to date using crewed and autonomous aircraft operating as teams. The demonstration at an undisclosed US Department of Defense flight test range saw fighter aircraft and drones equipped with BAE’s advanced Manned Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) technology successfully collaborate in an “operationally representative environment.”

Military drones are old news these days, even autonomous MQ-9 Reapers like the ones that fly out of Jacksonville in Florida. They’ve gone from being curiosities to a necessary part of the inventory of an increasing number of fighting forces. However, as the technology progresses, and as some countries like China begin work on creating swarms of hypersonic drones, these robotic aircraft are not only becoming more capable, they are moving ever closer to being decision-making combat team members that work alongside crewed aircraft.

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For the recent test, multiple Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) used MUM-T to not only work as a group and with crewed aircraft in a combat mission exercise, but also to share data with one another. This allowed the drones to use AI to solve problems, carry out the tactics needed to complete the mission, and counter hostile actions.

Courtesy: BAE

During the exercise, the human pilot monitored the mission and interacted with the drones using BAE’s Human Machine Interface (HMI).

The MUM-T is designed to be open and flexible. It uses algorithms for decentralized autonomous decision-making, allowing it to adapt to new mission objectives and technology as well as be accessible to third-party developers.

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According to BAE, the team of drones worked together to “develop and execute autonomously the necessary tactics to complete the mission.” The pilot in the fighter jet used a human-machine interface to monitor the mission of the drones. During the test, the pilot had the capability to interact with the drones as desired.

BAE says the next phase of testing will involve expanding the capabilities of the MUM–T and installing it in more kinds of crewed and robotic aircraft.

In addition to improving combat capabilities while reducing risks to military personnel, the technology also has civilian applications in firefighting, search and rescue operations, hazmat incidents, and law enforcement.

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“The development of autonomous technology is crucial to protect our war-fighters against emerging threats,” said Ehtisham Siddiqui, vice president and general manager of Controls and Avionics Solutions at BAE Systems. “This flight test demonstrates our team’s commitment to accelerate the deployment of reliable and innovative manned-unmanned teaming solutions for mission success.”

Source: BAE Systems

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.