Leonardo closing Combat Air AI Challenge this week
Image courtesy Leonardo
A joint endeavour between Leonardo and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), the challenge has provisioned funding for a number of pilot projects lasting around six months. It is hoped that some projects could then develop into longer-term collaborations within GCAP.
The challenge will support Leonardo’s work within the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP): the mission to create a new fighter jet for the UK, Italy and Japan by 2035. With this challenge, Leonardo is looking to assess the potential deployment of disruptive technologies, such as AI, in this domain.
Leonardo is the UK lead for developing the advanced electronics on-board this next generation combat aircraft that will provide the aircrew with information advantage and advanced self-protection capabilities. This capability is known as ISANKE (Integrated Sensing and Non-Kinetic Effects) and ICS (Integrated Communications Systems). Leonardo UK is working alongside Mitsubishi Electric in Japan and Leonardo and Elettronica in Italy to deliver the ISANKE & ICS domain.
ISANKE will unlock the potential of sixth generation tactical sensing by transitioning from individual airborne sensors to a fully integrated sensing, fusion and self-protection capability. Similar to a spider’s web of sensing and effecting nodes, ICS will enable ISANKE to operate as an adaptive mesh network across formations of crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Collectively, ISANKE and ICS will have the capability to dynamically self-optimise how sensing and fusion are best performed across the formation in a given tactical situation. Ultimately, the ISANKE and ICS capability will help the aircrew to survive and operate more effectively in the complex and highly-contested battlespace of tomorrow.
The Combat Air Artificial Intelligence Challenge builds on Leonardo’s ongoing investment in UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academia. There are 2,100 companies in Leonardo UK’s supply chain, of which two thirds are SMEs, and 28% of the company’s supply chain spending goes directly to SMEs. Leonardo UK is a partner in 30 EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) grants to universities, directly spending £1.5m on average each year with academia.
The challenge consists of two streams. Stream 1 focuses on deep reinforcement learning, a category of machine learning where intelligent machines can learn from their actions. Stream 2 will look at how machine learning can support deep integrated sensor fusion, the heart of GCAP’s next-generation approach to situational awareness. Further information on both streams, including how to apply, can be found on the Leonardo UK website.
By drawing on the skills and innovation within UK SMEs and academia, Leonardo is looking to use the challenge to bring national AI capabilities into the combat air sector.
The UK’s £6bn-a-year combat air industry delivers substantial economic and social value, as well as national defence and security. More than 2,800 people are currently working on the GCAP across the UK as part of the Tempest project, the national combat air partnership between Leonardo UK, BAE Systems, MBDA UK, Rolls-Royce and the UK Ministry of Defence, and wider industry. Beyond the Tempest partners, more than 580 organisations are already on contract across the UK, including 91 SMEs and 26 academic institutions.
To find out more about the challenge and how to respond, visit https://uk.leonardo.com/en/news-and-stories-detail/-/detail/combat-air-ai-challenge
