Army Scientists Autonomously Land Drones On Tanks

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

(Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md) What if, when taking heavy incoming enemy fire, US Army tanks and other armored vehicles were able to launch AI-enabled autonomous drones over the other side of a ridge to find…and help destroy… additional fast approaching enemy forces? While hand-launched drones certainly exist today, the concept here would be for drones to autonomously launch, fly, land and adjust mid-flight to emerging variables to quickly learn, adjust and reposition in order to achieve mission success.

AI

This is a paradigm-changing measure of AI-enabled machine learning which Army Research Laboratory scientists anticipate will shape, inform and potentially even drive warfare and concepts of operation 10, 20 or even 30 years from now.

A group of committed ARL scientists are working on advanced, AI-enabled computer algorithms designed to support real-time manned-unmanned “machine learning” wherein human input can enable an autonomous drone to essentially “learn” or “adapt” behaviors in response to certain contingencies. 

The experimental concept is based upon a certain reciprocity, meaning the machine is able to respond to and incorporate critical input from a human. The ongoing experimentation could be described in terms of an “evolution” of a certain kind, as AI-capable systems are known to only be as effective as their databases. This can at times present a certain quandary, regarding how an AI system might respond in the event that it comes across something that is not part of its database.