The US Air Force has contracted BAE Systems to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based video game experience that enables mission planners to make a series of incremental adjustments to a plan in minutes instead of hours.
The $17-million contract will cover the production of autonomy-based “drag-and-drop video game-like interactions” to “revolutionize air operations planning for contested environments.”
“This technology is about using AI to provide commanders with more options faster and with more details to ensure the most robust plan is selected,” BAE’s Mike Miller said.
As manual planning cycles require large amounts of time, BAE’s autonomy-based solution provides an interactive user interface that enables mission planners to “rapidly explore and access plausible futures and select the best plans in a dynamic environment.”
“These processes will be enhanced by tools that can generate and assess the feasibility of more plans than is currently possible without the aid of technology,” the company said.
The contract is part of the US Air Force’s Fight Tonight program, seeking research “that revolutionizes air operations planning by combining AI-driven planning with interactive gaming to significantly reduce the Air Tasking Order planning cycle.”