It’s been a long-overdue promise of the U.S. military to develop an “Internet of Battlefield Things.” We have been covering the various press releases for years which have highlighted the many components that would comprise this military version of what we are witnessing in our day-to-day lives via our array of sensors and highly connected smart devices.
Drone swarms are readily available in all sizes, including the potential for full-size autonomous Black Hawk helicopters. However, the military has continued to struggle with the communications aspect of developing a completely coordinated array of air- and land-based drones and robots, especially while working alongside manned vehicles in full-scale operations.
As reported by Defense One, this year’s Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference – with major sponsor and contract contender Google Cloud – is declaring that we are on the cusp of witnessing at least “Next Generation Air Dominance” and “Collaborative Combat Aircraft” as new advances and funding are finally aligning in 2022.
“Why isn’t it already here, like, en masse? I don’t know that we’ve really had the prioritization behind it,” Van Timmeren (vice president of government services at Blue Force Technologies), told Defense One.
But advances in autonomy capabilities and advanced manufacturing, alongside “government architectures, which enable swapping of these capabilities—all that has finally come together” in tandem with endorsements from the Air Force secretary and chief of staff on down, he said….
“We’re past a proof of concept. The technology exists, we’ve demonstrated it can be done. We just need the government to make the next move to actually get serious about it. If you want to get serious about a program, you’ve got to fund it seriously.”
Read More: Google Cloud Sponsors Military Conference Featuring the Future of Autonomous Warfare
