- A presolicitation targets tracking capabilities fueled by AI and other cutting-edge technologies
- Next-generation target tracking has been made a top modernization priority for the Air Force.
The U.S. governments is looking to artificial intelligence (AI) in the weaponry it deploys for its military.
The Department of the Air Force recently released a presolicitation looking for new target-tracking capabilities fueled by AI and other cutting-edge technologies. The Air Force plans to spend approximately $99 million on the multiyear innovation effort and multiple awards are anticipated.
The department outlined that it is seeking research to “design, develop, test, evaluate, and deliver innovative technologies and techniques for Next Generation Target Tracking architectures” using data sources, AI, machine learning (ML), and machine inferencing (MI) algorithms in a high performance computing (HPC) enabled framework.
How AI Would be Employed
AI and machine learning would be used to for “identification, classification and pattern learning that inference over information from multiple data modalities.” Among the data that would be used to fuel the results are open-source intelligence, signals intelligence, imagery and geospatial intelligence.
Next-generation target tracking has been made a top modernization priority for the Air Force. Although the service is trying to deploy next-generation target tracking capabilities faster, acquisition chief Andrew Hunter told lawmakers earlier this year that fully building out a new networking architecture to support those types of tools will take time.
“If you start talking about really being able to do entire mission threads at scale, anywhere in the world, it’s going to be another few years before we can really say we’ve rolled that out to the warfighter,” he said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in May.
Uses for Disaster Areas
The Air Force Research Lab, which will oversee the effort, is seeking tools to aid the ingestion and processing of GPS, non-GPS, inertial navigation system, radio frequency identification trackers, or telematic-based.
Additionally, the lab is interested in capabilities that can process cellphone GPS and non-GPS data that includes inertial navigation systems, accelerometers, altimeters and personal fitness devices.
Not all of the uses are for weaponry–Air Force officials pointed to the technology helping first responders locate vulnerable individuals in disaster areas
Vendors seeking funding for fiscal 2025 have a deadline of Nov. 30 to submit their papers.