DARPA, la agencia de proyectos avanzados de defensa de EEUU, ha convocado a la industria para que aporten ideas y posibles soluciones, para la incorporación de Inteligencia Artificial (AI) y Machine Learning (ML), a los sistemas de adquisición de blancos y control de tiro de los cañones Mk 45 de 127 mm que emplea la US Navy. Esta convocatoria a la industria se enmarca en el denominado Programa Heindall, que busca incorporar IA /ML al sistema computarizado del arma para automatizar y agilizar parte de los procesos que los operadores realizan hoy manualmente. Se aclara que de ninguna manera la propuesta busca convertir el arma en un sistema completamente autónomo, ya que el operador humano tendrá siempre estará presente en la decisión final del disparo.
ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. military researchers are asking industry to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help select targets for, and enhance accuracy of, the U.S. Navy’s Mk 45 five-inch deck gun aboard Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., issued a program solicitation (DARPA-PS-25-02) last Friday for the Heimdall project to improve naval gunfire.
Heimdall seeks rapid delivery of new AI and machine learning software to the Mk 45 deck gun’s Mk 160 gun computer system to aid or automate jobs that gun operators today do by hand.
The program will develop an operator aid with an activation and deactivation selection; there is no intent to switch the overall gun system to an autonomous weapon, DARPA researchers say.
The Heimdall Program consists of two six-month phases with several performers for the development phase, and a limited set of performers for the integration phase.
Development may include several performers conducting algorithm development to help operators identify targets from electro-optical or infrared sensor feeds and improve tracking of targets. The project will involve an in-lab simulation evaluation of the Mk 160 gun computer system, and a range test involving an at-sea test.
