21 November 2024

Generating an Edge


The autonomous vehicles navigated the unforgiving terrain of the 2,000-square-kilometer Cultana Training Area in South Australia, conducting simulated long-range precision fires and other missions. Defense scientists, meanwhile, sought to disrupt the uncrewed jeeps and trucks with electronic warfare and electro-optical laser attacks on their position, navigation and timing systems.

The Trusted Operation of Robotic Vehicles in a Contested Environment (TORVICE) trials in late 2023 incorporated experts and technology from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to evaluate the resilience of artificial intelligence (AI) in such assets — one of a slate of AI-capability initiatives under the allies’ AUKUS security partnership. “TORVICE tested the ability of autonomous vehicles to complete their missions and preserve network connectivity in a contested environment,” an Australian Defence Department spokesperson told FORUM. “The trial takes us a step closer to adopting these technologies in the land domain.”

Emerging capabilities such as AI and machine learning are transforming strategic cooperation, competition and conflict throughout the Indo-Pacific and beyond, military commanders and defense analysts say. From protecting global shipping against missile strikes to augmenting war gaming and scenario modeling to employing large language models (LLM) such as ChatGPT to dig through mountains of raw intelligence, AI systems accelerate decision-making and allow forces to project power while reducing the risk to troops and noncombatants.

No comments: