Pentagon's AI initiatives accelerate hard decisions on lethal autonomous weapons.

The Longshot, an air-launched unmanned aircraft that General Atomics is developing with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency for use in tandem with piloted Air Force jets, is displayed at the Air & Space Forces Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Wednesday, Sept 13, 2023 in Oxon Hill, Md. Pentagon planners envision using such drones in 'human-machine teaming' to overwhelm an adversary. But to be fielded, developers will need to prove the AI tech is reliable and trustworthy enough. — AP

NATIONAL HARBOR: Artificial intelligence employed by the US military has piloted pint-sized surveillance drones in special operations forces’ missions and helped Ukraine in its war against Russia. It tracks soldiers’ fitness, predicts when Air Force planes need maintenance and helps keep tabs on rivals in space.

Now, the Pentagon is intent on fielding multiple thousands of relatively inexpensive, expendable AI-enabled autonomous vehicles by 2026 to keep pace with China. The ambitious initiative – dubbed Replicator – seeks to "galvanise progress in the too-slow shift of US military innovation to leverage platforms that are small, smart, cheap, and many,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in August.