Pentagon touts "Loyal Wingman" for combat jets [F-35s]

[spazsinbad]

Pentagon touts "Loyal Wingman" for combat jets
30 Mar 2016 James Drew

"US Air Force plans to insert a “brain” into current-generation fighter jets to create autonomous flying wingmen paired with the Lockheed Martin F-35 were given a bump today, with the Pentagon’s second-in-charge saying he expects to see “unmanned wingmen in the air” before convoys of driverless Humvees.

Deputy defence secretary Robert Work touted the long-considered “loyal wingman” concept at a forum hosted by the Washington Post in Washington DC on 30 March, where he explained that the air force will pair unmanned Lockheed F-16s with F-35s in future battles.

"You take an F-16 and make it totally unmanned," [but with a BRAin] Work says. "The F-16 is a fourth-generation fighter, and pair it with an F-35, a fifth-generation battle network node, and have those two operating together.”...

...The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), however, is now moving ahead with the development of autonomy algorithms to control pilotless fighter jets. Those algorithms would be hosted in “one or more line-replaceable units" or "brain" that could be transferred between aircraft with minimal effort.

“The onboard autonomy must be sufficient for the Loyal Wingman to complete all basic flight operations untethered from a ground station and without full-time direction from the manned lead,” the laboratory explains in a request for information (RFI) notice published in March.

A formal programme will be launched in fiscal year 2018 with flight demonstrations running through 2022. These demonstrations will culminate in a capstone proof-of-concept demonstration in 2022, when paired warplanes will conduct a ground strike mission in a hostile, well-defended environment, AFRL says. It did not nominate which fighter platform would be selected for the demonstration...."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ts-423682/

[XanderCrews]

Pentagon touts "Loyal Wingman" for combat jets
30 Mar 2016 James Drew

"US Air Force plans to insert a “brain” into current-generation fighter jets to create autonomous flying wingmen paired with the Lockheed Martin F-35 were given a bump today, with the Pentagon’s second-in-charge saying he expects to see “unmanned wingmen in the air” before convoys of driverless Humvees.

Deputy defence secretary Robert Work touted the long-considered “loyal wingman” concept at a forum hosted by the Washington Post in Washington DC on 30 March, where he explained that the air force will pair unmanned Lockheed F-16s with F-35s in future battles.

"You take an F-16 and make it totally unmanned," [but with a BRAin] Work says. "The F-16 is a fourth-generation fighter, and pair it with an F-35, a fifth-generation battle network node, and have those two operating together.”...

...The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), however, is now moving ahead with the development of autonomy algorithms to control pilotless fighter jets. Those algorithms would be hosted in “one or more line-replaceable units" or "brain" that could be transferred between aircraft with minimal effort.

“The onboard autonomy must be sufficient for the Loyal Wingman to complete all basic flight operations untethered from a ground station and without full-time direction from the manned lead,” the laboratory explains in a request for information (RFI) notice published in March.

A formal programme will be launched in fiscal year 2018 with flight demonstrations running through 2022. These demonstrations will culminate in a capstone proof-of-concept demonstration in 2022, when paired warplanes will conduct a ground strike mission in a hostile, well-defended environment, AFRL says. It did not nominate which fighter platform would be selected for the demonstration...."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ts-423682/

Hope they call it "Blue Falcon"

[count_to_10]

Hope they call it "Blue Falcon"

So, I looked up "Blue Falcon", and all I can say is

[steakanddoritos]

Insanely cool. Seems like something out of Ace Combat.

[KamenRiderBlade]

The Macross Franchise In Universe Storyline brought about AI Drones back in the Macross Plus time frame. It became a staple of the universe since that time without replacing manned Veritechs.

[sprstdlyscottsmn]

Hope they call it "Blue Falcon"

So, I looked up "Blue Falcon", and all I can say is

Hahahaha haha good old Bravo Foxtrot gave away my position!

[sferrin]

I wonder if it will succeed as wildly as the Pilot's Associate did.

[KamenRiderBlade]

I think the "Loyal Wingman" is the first step to creating the simple to medium complexity AI fighter drones.

Effectively creating loyal attack dogs in the sky that operate on Fighter Pilot & Mission Objective principles.

I've been advocating Man & Machine teamup for the longest time with the F/A-XX | NGAD program being the Man part paired with lots of cheap A-4 Skyhawk sized stealthy attack drones that run on a single engine from the Super Hornet with upgraded perf specs.

[sferrin]

I think the "Loyal Wingman" is the first step to creating the simple to medium complexity AI fighter drones.

Effectively creating loyal attack dogs in the sky that operate on Fighter Pilot & Mission Objective principles.

I've been advocating Man & Machine teamup for the longest time with the F/A-XX | NGAD program being the Man part paired with lots of cheap A-4 Skyhawk sized stealthy attack drones that run on a single engine from the Super Hornet with upgraded perf specs.

Minion was a similar idea. A pair of UCAVs would operate with each F-22. Each Minion would have 8 SDBs on board, a 1000 mile range, and have landing gear. One would go under each wing of an F-22 (they'd have had to use some kind of pylon that attached to both hardpoints on each wing as they weighed 7500lbs). The F-22 would fly them to the release point and the monitor them as they flew their missions. Then they'd return to the airfield and land.

Minion.jpg (18.38 KiB) Viewed 13192 times

Minion2.jpg (9.89 KiB) Viewed 13192 times

[KamenRiderBlade]

Minion was a similar idea. A pair of UCAVs would operate with each F-22. Each Minion would have 8 SDBs on board, a 1000 mile range, and have landing gear. One would go under each wing of an F-22 (they'd have had to use some kind of pylon that attached to both hardpoints on each wing as they weighed 7500lbs). The F-22 would fly them to the release point and the monitor them as they flew their missions. Then they'd return to the airfield and land.

Souns like a good idea for a simple bomber concept, but at that point, if the minion can only drop bombs, that seems like a vary narrow scope UAV compared to where the USAF wants to go.

[count_to_10]

Minion was a similar idea. A pair of UCAVs would operate with each F-22. Each Minion would have 8 SDBs on board, a 1000 mile range, and have landing gear. One would go under each wing of an F-22 (they'd have had to use some kind of pylon that attached to both hardpoints on each wing as they weighed 7500lbs). The F-22 would fly them to the release point and the monitor them as they flew their missions. Then they'd return to the airfield and land.

Souns like a good idea for a simple bomber concept, but at that point, if the minion can only drop bombs, that seems like a vary narrow scope UAV compared to where the USAF wants to go.

I don't know, it sounds like a better idea for the Army than the Air Force. Give them some kind of rocket assist launch mechanism, load them on to trucks, and give yourself instant air support.

[spazsinbad]

How's this for a LOYAL WINGMAN!

Drone Attacked and Destroyed by Eagle: The Dutch Bring Eagles to the Fight
02 Apr 2016 SLDinfo

"...The eagles are specially trained to identify and capture drones, although from the way most birds of prey react to drones, my guess is that not a lot of training was necessary.

After snatching the drone out of the sky, the eagles instinctively find a safe area away from people to land and try take a couple confused bites out of their mechanical prey before their handlers can reward them with something a little less plastic-y.

The advantage here is that with the eagles, you don’t have to worry about the drone taking off out of control or falling on people, since the birds are very good at mid-air intercepts as well as bringing the drone to the ground without endangering anyone."

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robo ... own-drones

ANIMATED GIF: http://spectrum.ieee.org/img/eagle-dron ... 153300.gif

Source: http://www.sldinfo.com/drone-attacked-a ... the-fight/

[neptune]

[quote="spazsinbad... ..... These demonstrations will culminate in a capstone proof-of-concept demonstration in (6 yrs.)2022 , when paired warplanes will conduct a ground strike mission in a hostile, well-defended environment, AFRL says. It did not nominate which fighter platform would be selected for the demonstration...."

"9G" QF-16C Block 15/ 25/ 30 ??

[spazsinbad]

Manned Fighters to Test Loyal Wingman
David C Isby AIR International June 2016

"Loyal Wingman, the US Air Force concept for allowing manned fighters to operate in close cooperation with high-performance unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs), will first be tested with two manned fighter aircraft.

A modified fighter aircraft – the type has yet to be officially announced – will be the first Loyal Wingman UCAV. It will retain fighter performance, fly autonomously under the control of another fighter pilot flying alongside it and carry out the same missions.

The concept is intended for use with fifth generation fighters, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, with the objective of using the aircraft’s computerised flight control system and integral datalinks to allow a pilot to pass orders to the Loyal Wingman UCAV....

...By FY2022, the programme’s goal is to demonstrate an unmanned Loyal Wingman aircraft, likely an F-16, capable of taking off, keeping station with a manned aircraft and landing autonomously. A simulated combat mission is planned as part of the flight test programme. Commands by the pilot flight leader will direct the Loyal Wingman to carry out in-flight actions such as attacking a target, and providing additional operational capabilities without increasing the pilot’s workload. Airfield-area deconfliction capabilities developed under the FASTR programme may be incorporated if they reach a sufficient level of technological maturity.

An operational Loyal Wingman would likely not use the modified manned fighter type used in the flight test programme, but instead an as yet unspecified expendable UCAV capable of fighter-like kinetic performance and weapons delivery. It may be based on the technologies used in the Composite Engineering BQM-167A target drone, operational at Tyndall Air Force Base Florida since 2008, which is capable of 9g manoeuvres and high subsonic speed flight of Mach 0.93."

Source: AIR International Magazine June 2016

[count_to_10]

How do you make a 9g capable drone "expendable"?