US Navy Tests Intelligent Drones During Simulated Combat Trials

The Naval Research Laboratory has tested its Tactical Battle Manager (TBM) software system that guides drones to serve as "wingmen" to human piloted aircraft, the US Navy announced in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — "The main idea here is if the UAV/wingman is left to its own devices, it has the ability to recognize when or how to change its goal or objective as the mission scenario unfolds," Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Systems section head David Aha stated on Wednesday.

Aha explained that while some systems allow users to insert new goals or pre-program the selection of new ones, TBM’s "goal reasoning agents can dynamically select new goals to pursue that are not pre-programmed."

The TBM streamlines cross-platform coordination of manned and unmanned air combat teams to operate in highly contested environments. The system allows a human operator to manage the drones by coordinating their objectives and goals, the release stated.

During the simulated beyond-visual-range air combat missions, operators controlled the lead air vehicle and communicated with autonomous agents, each of which was TBM-controlled, the release added.

The Naval Research Laboratory worked integrated TBM into Air Force and Naval aviation advanced simulators, according to the release.