Lockheed Martin has been awarded a USD 4.6 million (EUR 4.25 million) contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools for dynamic, airborne missions as part of its Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) programme, the company announced on 8 July 2024.
The project aims to provide advanced modelling and simulation approaches and dominant AI agents for live, multi-ship, beyond-visual-range (BVR) missions and is a critical step in prioritising and investing in breakthrough technologies for national security and to meet the evolving needs of customers.
DARPA’s AIR programme will improve the government-provided baseline models’ speed and predictive performance to better match how the US Department of Defense’s systems perform in the real world. During the 18-month period of performance, Lockheed Martin will apply AI and machine learning (ML) techniques to create surrogate models of aircraft, sensors, electronic warfare systems and weapons within dynamic and operationally representative environments.
“In complex airborne missions, our customers need access to advanced technologies that connect critical systems quickly across all domains. The DARPA AIR programme will use state-of-the-art scientific ML technology and Lockheed Martin’s ARISE infrastructure to deliver unprecedented amounts of data that service members can use to make faster and more informed decisions,” Gaylia Campbell, vice president of engineering and technology for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “This will provide significant cost savings opportunities for the Department of Defense and serve as a foundation for future AI defence solutions, ensuring the US and its allies maintain their competitive advantage no matter the circumstances.”
ARISE is a family of integrated toolkits used to build a system-level weapon simulation – or “digital twin” – tool. As the mission simulation standard for programmes at Missiles and Fire Control, ARISE is used to reduce product development time, decrease cost, maximise anomaly detection prior to live flight tests, and further integrate model-based engineering into Lockheed Martin’s processes.
The DARPA contract aligns with Lockheed Martin’s 21st Century Security vision, in which the company aims to build a more advanced, resilient and collaborative defence industry to deliver more cutting-edge capabilities faster and more affordably to the United States and its allies.
