Various efforts and motions for resolutions – both in the EU Parliament (see here) as well as in the Austrian Parliament (Parliamentary materials) – to ban so-called autonomous weapons systems under international law without or with (too) little human control, their development continues unabated. The ultimate military objective is not (or no longer) denied.
In the U.S. on April 29, the Skyborg Vanguard Leadership Team successfully conducted a two-hour and ten-minute flight test of the future AI brain, Skyborg Autonomy Core Systems (ACS), aboard a Kratos UTAP-22 Mako tactical drone at Tyndall AFB in Florida. As a defined milestone-1 of the so-called “Autonomous Attritable Aircraft Experimentation (AAAx) Campaign”, the ACS performed a series of basic behaviors required to characterize safe system operation. According to the broadcast “basic flight control capabilities and responded to programmed navigation commands while responding to geo-references and demonstrating coordinated maneuvering without complaint”. It was monitored – but not controlled – by both the air and ground guidance and control stations.
The Skyborg Vanguard Team is a new program constellation that combines Brigadier General Dale White as the Skyborg Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft and Brigadier General Heather Pringle, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as the Skyborg Technology Executive Officer (TEO). The 96th Test Wing – led by Brig. Gen. Scott Cain – serves as the executive arm for these test missions. These have already included those with F-15C-launched Mako.
Clear statements on where to go
Associated comments after the test read as follows: “We are very pleased with the successful flight of an early version of the brain of the Skyborg system,” said Brigadier General White. “It is the first step in a marathon of progressive growth for Skyborg technology. These first flights launch the campaign of experimentation that will continue to mature the ACS and build confidence in the system.” Brigadier General Pringle added: “Milestone 1 is the first step in testing the ACS and begins a sequence of experimental events planned over the coming months. Through this operational experimentation campaign, AFRL is moving closer to interacting with users early and providing them full autonomy over the entire mission within a relevant timeline.” Brigadier General Cain emphasized the autonomy of the system: “Milestone-1 was the first time active autonomy capability was demonstrated at an Air Force test site and is a first step toward integrating devices based on it into a complex operational environment.”
Here too – loyal wingman in the system network
It is communicated by the USAF in connection with Skyborg that these demonstration tests are aimed at direct cooperation between manned aircraft and several ACS-controlled unmanned aircraft (“Manned Unmanned Teaming”). “The goal of Skyborg-Vanguard is to integrate full autonomy with cost-effective and loss-acceptable unmanned aircraft technology to enable this interaction between current and future fighter aircraft and the so-called ‘loyal wingmen’. Skyborg will provide the foundation upon which the USAF can build an autonomous ‘best-of-breed’ system that adapts to a variety of increasingly complex mission sets, orienting itself and responding with humans or making decisions on its own, depending on the situation.” This concept is also being pursued in both European 6th generation programs, but nothing is (yet) known about something like Skyborg.
Mako only test carrier
The components and software engineering of ACS come from Leidos Inc. from Reston VA. The San Diego-based company Kratos has also funded the development of the Mako (UTAP-22) itself as part of a 50 million US dollar (41 million euro) initiative to develop an affordable tactical unmanned aircraft. In 2012, Composite Engineering Inc. was acquired, which brought out the BQM-167 Skeeter target display drone – the now inflationary term “drone” is justified here. The orange-colored Skeeters are – with lethal fate – in use by the USAF today. From this, Kratos developed UTAP-22 Mako with a speed just below Mach-1, a ceiling of 50,000 feet and a load multiple of up to 9G. Mako can carry 175 kilograms of external loads internally or 250 kilograms externally and stay in the air for three hours with a range of 1,500 km. Landing is by means of a parachute – not normally provided for by Skeeter but also integrated. With a price tag of between two and three million US dollars (1.64 to 2.47 million euros), Kratos received approval from the US State Department in 2018 to market Mako in Europe and Asia.
Steve Fendley, President of the Kratos drone division, commented: “The UTAP-22 Mako has been an important tactical unmanned system since its introduction in 2015 and continues to evolve and be used in both technology demonstrations and military exercises. In addition, Mako is an ideal technology incubator for the missionization of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, which together with it and Gremlins (a subcontractor of Dynetics Corp.) is designed for a family of tactical air vehicles in the Kratos portfolio for a wide range of tactical applications and missions. These recent AAAx test successes as part of the Skyborg-Vangurd team demonstrate what can be achieved with a focused government and industry team and the potential here for the tactical mission arena.”
Skyborg arrives in XQ-58A Valkyire
Mako is nevertheless only an intermediate step; Skyborg will later take over control of the much larger Valkyrie, two of which will be flown by the company and between six and ten production units will be delivered to the USAF by the end of 2021. According to Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco, the company had already started production of twelve XQ-58As in early 2020 at its own risk – at approximately the same cost as Mako – in anticipation or conviction of their “unique selling points”, which were then confirmed last December by an order worth 37.7 million US dollars (30.98 million euros) from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center – Advanced Aircraft Program Executive Office. The latter commissioned and defined the “provision of hardware and software to enable the autonomous control and command of a ‘loyal wingman’ capable of operating in conjunction with manned combat aircraft.”
For example, Skyborg will train and learn alongside F-35 jets, reconnoitre enemy airspace, share intelligence with their pilots and others on the battlefield, and use internal libraries to eliminate identified threats. The contract also includes customized mission loads – Valkyrie also has an internal weapons bay (see here) and the desired level of autonomy. Brigadier General Pringle estimates that initial operational capability should be achieved in 2023.
Incidentally, the Skyborg also plays a role in the already initiated successor to the F-22 Raptor as an AI-controlled “computer brain” (see report). Click here for further information.
