DARPA to brief industry on software tools to plan air battles with manned aircraft and UAVs
ARLINGTON, Va., 18 Feb. 2014. U.S. military researchers will brief industry on 28 Feb. 2014 on a program to develop software decision aids to plan aerial battles involving manned combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Officials of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will outline the upcoming Distributed Battle Management (DBM) program on 28 Feb. from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the DARPA conference Center, 675 North Randolf St., in Arlington, Va. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. that day.
The DBM program seeks to develop software decision aids to help airborne battle managers and pilots with managing air-to-air and air-to-ground combat involving manned combat aircraft, as well as fighting drones. The program will address how to manage the increasing complexity of manned and unmanned aircraft, formidable threats, and how to fight effectively with degraded communications and damaged aircraft.
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The DBM decision aids will be integrated into on-board software and will help airborne battle managers and pilots maintain situational awareness, recommend tasks, generate detailed fighting plans, and keep control of the fight, DARPA officials say. DARPA scientists say they believe current research has matured sufficiently to choose algorithms to meet the needs for airborne battle decision aids.
The challenge for the DBM program is to make the algorithms robust and reliable in realistic battle environments and to demonstrate them in virtual simulations and simulated combat scenarios that will involve live aircraft participation.
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The DARPA industry briefings on the DBM program are to provide program information, promote additional discussion, and answer industry questions about the program and its enabling technologies.
Companies interested in attending should register by email at [email protected] no later than 24 Feb. 2014. Put Industry Day Registration in the subject line and include the attendee's first and last name, organization, country of citizenship, email address, and telephone number.
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Email questions or concerns to [email protected]. More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-SN-14-16/listing.html.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
