US Army to purchase one million drones in the next three years

Drones might well be the future of war, and the Pentagon is late to the party.
The USA seems to finally have woken up about drone warfare, but it needs Congress aboard for investments. (Picture: Adobe)
After «learning lessons» from the war in Ukraine, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said they will up its drone game, according to Reuters.

The target is to produce millions of drones in the next three years, and to build «robust supply lines» to be able to increase production «to as however much we need.»

There is a bill going through Congress for a megacenter in Texas to produce a million drones, but Driscoll doesn’t want to rely on a single company.

— We want to partner with other drone manufacturers who are using them for Amazon deliveries and all the different use cases, he says.

Meanwhile, the Replicator initiative and Valkyrie fighter drones have spent years in limbo waiting for Congressional approval.

Read more: this is from a Reuters exclusive. See also Defense News.

Denmark deploys AI-powered «Saildrone» for maritime surveillance

Saildrone Voyager with the Danish flag, about to start patrolling the Baltic Sea.
Four uncrewed sensor platforms have begun patrolling the Baltic and Northern seas. (Picture: Saildrone)
After a string of high profile undersea cable «failures» and pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea lately, the Danes are now deploying four unmanned drones in the Baltic and Northern seas.

The drones, called Voyager by Saildrone, are basically 10 meters long, AI-powered sensor platforms, using a combination of wind and solar energy to stay at sea for a hundred days.

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UN meets on rules for autonomous AI weapons

The AI-powered XQ58-Valkyrie flies alongside us fighter jets.
Autonomous systems pose a challenge to the rules of war, and the UN is trying to reach an agreement. (Picture. Department of Defence)
As more and more AI robots and drones are deployed to the battlefields of the world, the talks are taking on a new urgency.

The UN Secretary General has set a deadline for 2026 to reach an agreement on so-called «killer robots,» while great powers resist.

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— Om 10-15 år er en tredel av militæret robotisk

Nye B-21 Raider kan fly både bemannet og ubemannet. (Bilde: Tech. Sgt. William OBrien, via WIkipedia)

USAs militære stabssjef sier vi står ovenfor en stor innovasjon i styrkene til industrialiserte land, der stadig flere systemer blir ubemannet.

General Mark Milley trakk fram flere aspekter rundt militærets robotiske ambisjoner, overvåking og kunstig intelligens i en nylig tale ved National Press Club i Washington, DC.

— Krigens karakter […] endrer seg fundamentalt med jevne mellomrom, og akkurat nå er vi midt i en slik endring, sier generalen.

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AI fighter drones for the Pentagon looks unlikely for 2025, too

XQ-58 Valkyrie taking off with rockets
An XQ-58 Valkyrie taking off with rockets. Soon, they’ll get landing gears. (Picture: USAF)
If you’ve been waiting for Congress to approve the wide deployment of the XQ-58 Valkyrie for the Air Force, you might need just a little more patience.

As Congress is looking down the barrel of another possible government shutdown in the next couple of days, it seems increasingly likely that the result will be another Continuing Resolution, freezing spending at 2024 levels with no new funding for the Valkyrie.

Continue reading “AI fighter drones for the Pentagon looks unlikely for 2025, too”

Pentagon ber om 600 milliarder kroner til å bestille 2 000 AI-droner

XQ-58 Valkyrie flyr med F22 og F-35: Følgedronen er bygget for å ta risiko for pilotene. (Bilde: USAF.)
XQ-58 Valkyrie-dronen fløy for første gang med AI-kontroll i forrige måned, og nå bekrefter Pentagon at den tiltenkt en større rolle i fremtidens luftforsvar, melder insider.

Den ubemannede dronen fra «Skyborg»—programmet er bygget for å følge jagerfly i luften, og er billig, rask, har lang rekkevidde — og er nå flydd av kunstig intelligens.

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Top Pentagon AI projects on hold in US Budget minibus for 2024

Kratos’ AI-driven XQ-58 Valkyrie can launch from a ramp on land or sea and doesn’t need an airstrip. (Photo: DoD).
The Pentagon’s most forward-looking AI programs will find themselves in a desert of funding until September 2024, but hopes are high when the new 2025 budget kicks in…

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Kunstig intelligens fløy jagerfly-drone i tre timer

Billige og raskt utviklede AI-droner kan være fremtiden til det amerikanske luftvåpenet. Her er XQ-58A Valkyrie. (Bilde: AFRL.)
Det amerikanske luftvåpenet har brukt kunstig intelligens for å kontrollere en følgedrone til jagerflyene sine, et halvt år etter at de gjorde det samme med en F16.

Den nye dronen til USA er designet og produsert på bare to og et halvt år, og er laget for å være en billig, lett erstattelig maskin som kan slippe våpen, gjøre rekognosering, eller fungere i en dronesverm.

Poenget med disse følgeflyene er at de skal være billigere og enklere å bruke enn rådyre, bemannede jagerfly.

Continue reading “Kunstig intelligens fløy jagerfly-drone i tre timer”