Attacking In Milliseconds: Army “Aided Target Recognition” IDs Enemies

Video: Army Research Lab Scientist Describes Human Brain as Sensor Connecting With AI

By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

(Washington D.C.) If you were a gunner in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle when, suddenly, an armored enemy vehicle emerged from behind a vehicle and an armed aircraft ascended above buildings in hostile territory .. your position would immediately be vulnerable .. so life and death may hang in the balance of how quickly you are able to recognize and attack the approaching enemy target.  Army weapons developers, many of whom have of course themselves faced rapid or unexpected incoming enemy fire, understand this, which is why the service is fast-tracking an AI-enabled computer technology called “Aided Target Recognition.” (AiTR)

The system, as described by former Bradley gunner and commander Gen. John Murray, now the Commander of Army Futures Command, introduces the possibility of identifying enemy targets in milliseconds at a 98-percent rate of accuracy.

“The algorithm makes a decision on whether that is a target or not a target, then it slews the weapons system to that target and lays in the right firing solution and the right ammunition to engage that target,” Murray told The National Interest in an interview. 

The concept is to draw upon AI-enabled computing to instantly bounce incoming sensor data against a known database, perform near real-time analytics, and inform human decision makers of an optimal method of response or counterattack.  

One could liken the technical concept to an F-35s Mission Data Files, a compiled library of specific, well documented threats specific to key geographical regions used to instantly make target identification in response to incoming sensor data. A fighter pilot, for instance, might know within seconds that the image appearing on a targeting sensor was, in fact, a Chinese aircraft approaching for attack.