Where is AI technology now and where is it headed?: Weapons and Warfare

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ‘WEAPONS AND WARFARE’, FROM STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M YOUR HOST RYAN ROBERTSON. WE’VE GOT A LOT TO LIKE IN THIS EPISODE, INCLUDING A VISIT WITH TWO INDUSTRY LEADERS IN THE FIELD OF AI PILOTS. THAT’S RIGHT. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PILOTING AIRCRAFT. THEY’VE COME A LONG WAY SINCE THE CYLONS OF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA FAME.

SHOUTOUT BRIAN SPENCER FOR THE CLUTCH EDIT. 

AND WE CHECK-IN WITH THE FOLKS AT ANDURIL FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, PLUS WE RESPOND TO SOME OF YOUR THOUGHTS IN COMMS CHECK.

BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.

MORE THAN 50 DEFENSE LEADERS, FROM EUROPE AND AROUND THE WORLD, GATHERED AT RAMSTEIN AIR BASE IN GERMANY LAST WEEK TO TALK ABOUT CONTINUING SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE AND THEIR BATTLE AGAINST RUSSIA. AMONG THOSE LEADERS WAS THE AMERICAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, LLOYD AUSTIN, WHO SAID THE UNITED STATES AND ITS COALITION OF PARTNERS WOULD NOT LET UKRAINE FALL. 

[LLOYD AUSTIN]

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s not kid ourselves. Putin will not stop at Ukraine. But, as President Biden has said, “Ukraine can stop Putin, if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons that it needs to defend itself.” Ukraine’s survival is on the line. And all of our security is on the line.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE MEETING COMES A WEEK AFTER U.S. DEFENSE OFFICIALS MANAGED TO FIND AND USE $300 MILLION IN CONTRACT SAVINGS TO FUND A NEW PACKAGE OF MILITARY AID FOR UKRAINE.

WE HAVE A WOLF SIGHTING AT MALSTROM AIR FORCE BASE IN MONTANA. THAT’S BECAUSE THE 341st MISSILE WING RECENTLY TOOK DELIVERY OF THEIR  FIRST MH-139A GRAY WOLF HELICOPTER. WHILE IT’S NOT A NEW AIRCRAFT, IT IS NEW TO THE MISSION. THE MH 139S ARE REPLACING UH-1N HUEYS  TO PATROL THE INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE FIELDS AT MALMSTROM; WARREN AFB IN WYOMING; AND MINOT AFB, IN NORTH DAKOTA.

[Col. Philip Bryant, COMMANDER, 582nd Helicopter Group] 

“You will convert from the Huey to the Grey Wolf at a rapid pace. You will not have the luxury to pause the mission, embrace that challenge. You have an opportunity that few Air Force aviators and few defenders receive, so make the most of it.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE AS THE LEONARDO AW-139, THE GRAY WOLF  IS A 15-SEAT MEDIUM-SIZED TWIN-ENGINE HELICOPTER WITH A MAX SPEED OF 167 MILES PER HOUR. ADD TO THAT A RANGE OF 778  NAUTICAL MILES, AND THE MH-139 CAN COVER MORE GROUND, AND CARRY MORE AIRMEN, AT GREATER SPEEDS THAN THE NEARLY 70-YEAR-OLD HUEYS THEY ARE REPLACING. 

AND IT TOOK A COUPLE OF YEARS TO CATCH UP TO THE OTHER BRANCHES, BUT IN EARLY MARCH THE MARINE CORPS FINALLY DROPPED ITS REQUIREMENT THAT FEMALE MARINES WEAR PANTYHOSE IN THEIR SERVICE OR DRESS UNIFORMS. ACCORDING TO A MARINE ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE DATED THE 11TH OF MARCH, THE WEARING OF HOSIERY WITH SKIRTS IS NOW OPTIONAL. THE CHANGE COMES AT THE REQUEST OF THE BRANCH’S FEMALE MEMBERS FOLLOWING A SURVEY FROM THE MARINE UNIFORM BOARD. THE USMC’s LAST CHANGE ALLOWED FEMALE NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND OFFICERS TO WEAR SLACKS WITH THEIR EVENING DRESS UNIFORM.

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[Ryan Robertson]There are few professions as iconic as that of being a fighter pilot. From the historical, like the Red Baron and Eddie Rickenbacker, to the fictional like Maverick and the Iceman, the images alone live in rarified air.But, just as the bi-wing gave way to the turbo-prop and the F-117 gave way to the F-35, so too will the men and women that serve as today’s icons piloting the F-22 and the F-35, at least in part. That’s because right now people are working to make sure that America’s next conflict puts fewer icons in harm’s way by using artificial intelligence in the cockpit. Essentially, AI fighter pilots.This next evolution in combat is being led by companies like Shield AI and Epi-Sci. For them, autonomous combat-ready aircraft is the way to bring maximum firepower with minimum exposure for those serving to protect the United States and its interests. For former Navy SEAL and Shield AI co-founder, Brandon Tseng, the need for autonomous combat aircraft is pretty simple.

[Brandon Tseng — Shield AI]“Every single unit is able to have massive organic air assets at their disposal. That’s the shift that’s happening. And why is that important? It enables you to have air superiority on every single mission, and that enables maneuver on the ground, which is fundamentally game-changing.”

[Ryan Robertson]For Epi-Sci’s Chris Gentile, a retired Air Force fighter pilot himself, AI pilots are simply the next evolution of American combat innovation.

[Chris Gentile — EpiSci VP, Tactical Autonomous Systems]“The fact is warfare in general, and the American way of warfare in particular, is about using technology to realize asymmetric advantages over a foe.”

[Ryan Robertson]As Gentile sees it, those advantages aren’t limited to the skies.

[Chris Gentile — EpiSci VP, Tactical Autonomous Systems]“Whether that’s a submarine, a ship, an aircraft, a weapons launch platform, something like that, we want to continue to increase that capability, continue to make each human being, each American that chooses to go into harm’s way, that much more effective, but use tools like AI and autonomy to manage their cognitive workload, make sure they’re not overwhelmed.”

[Ryan Robertson]For most people, seeing is believing. And both companies have plenty of working examples of their technology. So why aren’t they being introduced to the DOD on a larger scale right now? Especially when near-peer adversaries, like Russia and China, are working to bring similar capabilities to the battle space.

[Brandon Tseng — Shield AI]“It’s not a technology problem. It’s a budget. It’s a resourcing. It’s a programming problem in terms of getting this capability out as fast as possible.”

[Ryan Robertson]Once those issues are overcome, Tseng thinks the change for operators in combat will be evident immediately.

[Brandon Tseng — Shield AI] “AI pilots paired with affordable aircraft is the most strategic conventional deterrent, since really, you know, the introduction of aircraft carriers.”

[Chris Gentile — EpiSci VP, Tactical Autonomous Systems]“It comes back to can we effectively employ mass affordable weapons like the Ukrainians are doing. But with American control and American ethics, can we have the right interaction with an operator that there’s always a human on the loop when it comes to a lethal force decision.”

[Ryan Robertson]And even though Congress is at a standstill when it comes to passing a budget to fund programs like these, these companies aren’t stuck in place.Earlier this month, Shield AI inked a deal with NAV-AIR to put their AI in the Kratos BQM-177A, a sub-sonic aerial target. While Epi-Sci landed a Small Business Innovation Research award for an AI-aided satellite project that, if successful, will help sense hypersonic vehicles and missiles.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND FOR SOME OF YOU IT MIGHT COME FROM A FAMILIAR NAME. 

BACK IN DECEMBER, ON STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, WE PROFILED THE ANDURIL ROADRUNNER. AN AI GUIDED DRONE HUNTER. THIS TIME WE’RE TAKING A LOOK AT ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR PRODUCTS. 

MEET THE ALTIUS 700-M. CAPABLE OF FLYING FOR 75 MINUTES,  WITH A RANGE OF 100 MILES, IT’S WHAT’S KNOWN AS A LOITERING DRONE. WHAT THAT MEANS IS THE DONE DOESN’T NEED TO HAVE THE TARGET IN SIGHT BEFORE BEING FIRED. INSTEAD, IT CAN PASSIVELY WAIT FOR THE TARGET TO COME INTO VIEW BEFORE STRIKING AND DETONATING. 

FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW WHERE THE ENEMY IS GOING TO BE, BUT YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY’RE COMING FROM. THE ALTIUS CAN CIRCLE OVERHEAD, MONITORING THE SITUATION UNTIL THE TARGET COMES INTO SIGHT AND THE OPERATOR HITS FULL SEND.

ANDURIL RECENTLY RELEASED VIDEO OF SOME TRIALS AT THE DUGWAY PROVING GROUNDS IN UTAH. ACCORDING TO A RELEASE FROM THE COMPANY THE ALTIUS WAS ARMED WITH A 33-POUND WARHEAD AND SCORED SEVERAL DIRECT HITS. 

MUCH LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR, THE 600-M, SEEN HERE, THE 700 CAN ALSO BE LAUNCHED FROM LAND, SEA OR AIR. MAKING IT AN INCREDIBLY VERSATILE, AND CAPABLE, OPTION FOR POTENTIAL USERS. 

SPEAKING OF WHICH ANDURIL HAS YET TO SAY WHO IS INTERESTED IN ADDING THE ALTIUS 700 TO THEIR ARSENAL, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THE U.S. ARMY CONDUCTED A SUCCESSFUL TEST WITH THE U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND IN EARLY DECEMBER.

ACCORDING TO A RELEASE FROM THE UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE, THE 700 M WAS SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED FROM A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER. 

A RELATIVE NEWCOMER TO THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY, ANDURIL WAS STARTED IN 2017 BY CO-FOUNDER PALMER LUCKY, THE MAN BEHIND THE OCULUS RIFT, WHICH WAS ONE THE FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSETS. 

SINCE 2017 THINGS HAVE GONE WELL ENOUGH THAT THE COMPANY RECENTLY TOLD THE WAR ZONE DOT COM THAT THEY SUNK $60 MILLION INTO A NEW 180,000-SQUARE-FOOT PRODUCTION FACILITY IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. 

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

Alright folks, it’s time once again for Comms Check. It’s one of my favorite portions of the show, it’s our opportunity to kind of check in with you, the audience, see where your head’s at. We peruse our social media feeds, go through our email, inbox, weapons and warfare@san.com. To, you know, just kind of see where my head’s at, and answer any questions, comments or concerns that you might have. So let’s go ahead and get started.

Our first coms check comes to us on a story that we had done a couple of weeks ago, it was actually one of our debrief segments about the U.S. Air Force bringing back the warrant officer rank. Why are they doing that? To essentially keep some of the best and brightest in the electronic warfare cyber warfare field, keep them in the Air Force. The warrant officer rank kind of offers some more incentive, more pay, you know, that kind of thing that to stay in.

So this question or this comment comes to us from Texas Papa. Why can’t the USA F use Warrant Officer pilots, and especially weaponized UAV, the United States Air Force could have warrant officer pilots? There’s nothing to say that they won’t do that. All that the Air Force Chief of Staff General, David Allen had said was that the Air Force is going to start with, you know, the the electronic warfare cyber folks, and who knows where the where the warrant officer rank goes from there.

Actually, the Chief of Staff General spoke at the AFA warfare symposium in Colorado earlier this year about this very topic, which is why we did the story. But here’s a little bit more about what he had to say concerning this issue.

[CHIEF OF STAFF]

We need to understand that we’re still a force that develops leaders. And so we’re not going to relegate the entire force to warrant officers, we still have to have professional development leaders, because this is one of our especially in our enlisted corps. Our professional enlisted Corps is the envy of the world and it it scares the jiggers out of the adversary. We need to make sure we retain that.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

So Texas Papa, hopefully that answers part of your question for the second part, weaponized UAV. The Air Force does have unmanned aerial vehicles, some of those are weaponized, some of those are not. If you’re talking about why can’t Warrant Officer pilots fly those. There’s nothing to say that they won’t in the future or that they can’t. They might the Air Force might want to reserve some of its, you know, more skilled pilots for some of the higher dollar value aircrafts or drones and some of the smaller value, you know, tradable aircrafts leave those for, for operators to control.

So it may be those operators, maybe they will be warrant officers we don’t know yet. Like General Alvin said, you know, they’re kind of starting here, see where they go. So hopefully that helps answer some of your question Texas PaPa. My parents are in Texas, so maybe you know him.

Next question comes to us on a story that I had done about the Houthis possibly having hypersonic missiles, a Russian news outlet reported that the Houthis have a hypersonic missile. This story is about how that missile was probably from Iran. It’s probably a missile called the Fatah. Because there’s a connection, a very well established connection of arms smuggling from Iran to Yemen, where the Houthis are. This question from George Joseph, the bigger question is, how are they getting the missiles, the hypersonic missiles in the first place? Hit or sink the supply chain? So I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Mr. Joseph did not watch the story.

This is probably a situation where he saw the headline and commented below, because, like I just laid out in the story, we go through how there is a well established connection between Iran and Yemen. It goes back years, when, when the Houthis were coming to power in Yemen. But late 90s, early 2000s, Hezbollah, which is an Iranian backed terror proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah and the Houthis were very, you know, close buddy buddy kind of thing.

The Houthi has got their slow go their anti America stance from Hezbollah, and kind of took a lot of their wording and their charter from the from Hezbollah’s charter. Fast forward to 2014 Houthi is trying to they do take over Yemen, they throw out the internationally recognized government there, they they seize a lot of weapons, they use those weapons and in a civil war that ensues. They’ve never rebuilt the weapons manufacturing abilities in the country, and yet they continue fighting. So obviously, there is a smuggling operation to get weapons into Yemen to the Houthis.

I’m with you, Mr. Joseph. Let’s think the supply chain in the meantime, that’s comms check. If you have something you want us to address, please leave it down below in the Comment section or you can email us weaponsandwarfare@san.com

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ALRIGHT FOLKS, TIME TO WRAP THINGS UP…AND THIS WEEK’S TOPIC IS ALL ABOUT TAKING SOME TIME TO LIVE LIFE…AND NOT GETTING TOO CAUGHT UP IN THE IDEA OF IMPENDING DOOM AROUND EVERY CORNER. 

SO, THE IDEA FOR THIS TOPIC CAME TO US WHEN SOMEONE ON OUR DIGITAL TEAM AT STRAIGHT ARROW POINTED OUT A QUOTE TO US IN OUR RUSSIAN SPACE NUKE STORY FROM LAST WEEK….AND HOW IT REALLY RESONATED WITH HER. 

THE QUOTE WAS FROM ELSBETH MAGILTON–A SPACE LAWYER AND NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE EXPERT. I’M SUMMARIZING HERE BUT ESSENTIALLY SHE SAID WHEN YOU WORK IN NATIONAL DEFENSE–YOU QUICKLY LEARN THE IDEA THAT WE’RE SECURE ISN’T REALLY BASED IN REALITY–THAT THERE’S ALWAYS SOME SORT OF SOMETHING THAT COULD WIPE OUT HUMANITY. AND YET WE PERSIST.

LIFE CONTINUES. I MEAN IN THE LAST 60 YEARS OR SO… THERE HAVE BEEN PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORLD-CHANGING, CATACLYSMIC EVENTS TO HAVE OCCURRED… AND THEY DIDN’T. 

I DID A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH TO FIND SOME STORIES WHERE THE WORLD ALMOST ENDED…HERE ARE A COUPLE OF THE MORE INTERESTING CLOSE CALLS. 

GERMAN SCIENTISTS WERE JUST ABOUT TO FIELD TEST SOME GENETICALLY ALTERED BACTERIA IN THE 90S, BUT THANKFULLY, JUST BEFORE IT WAS TESTED OUTSIDE THE CONFINES OF A LAB, SCIENTISTS IN OREGON REALIZED THE BACTERIA HAD THE POTENTIAL TO DESTROY EVERY PLANT SPECIES ON THE PLANET. SO, DEFINITELY DODGED A BULLET THERE.

IN 1980, A FAULTY 46 CENT SWITCH ALMOST CAUSED WORLD WAR III BECAUSE THE WHITE HOUSE THOUGHT THE SOVIETS LAUNCHED A NUCLEAR ATTACK. THEY DIDN’T, BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP THE U.S. FROM GETTING ITS ICBMS AND NUCLEAR BOMBERS FUELED UP AND READY TO STRIKE. AGAIN, CRISIS AVERTED.

IN COLLEGE I WAS A DJ ON THE CAMPUS RADIO STATION–SHOUT OUT KRNU…

AND I REMEMBER PLAYING A SONG BY WILLIAM SHATNER AND BEN FOLDS CALLED YOU’LL HAVE TIME…AND THE OPENING LINE FROM IT IS SHATNER SAYING LIVE LIFE, LIKE YOU’RE GONNA DIE…BECAUSE YOU’RE GONNA…AND FOR ME, THAT’S THE SAME POINT MAGILTON WAS MAKING:

THERE ARE THINGS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD THAT ARE SCARY AND COULD WIPE US ALL OUT, YES, BUT THAT’S BEEN TRUE OF THE WHOLE OF HUMAN HISTORY. AND HEY, WE’RE STILL HERE. STILL LIVING LIFE.

AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING US HERE AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE IN YOUR LIFE. FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER AND GRAPHICS DESIGNER DAKOTA PITEO, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS….SIGNING OFF.