The US Army is developing an artificial intelligence-enabled tool that can generate code to alter radio frequency waveforms, designed to save warfighters precious minutes when reprogramming devices in response to threats.
More Time, More Survivability
Nicholaus Saacks, the Army’s Communications Electronics Command’s (CECOM) deputy to the commanding general, emphasized the importance of time in electronic warfare. „How do we give soldiers’ units more time to do their mission? If there’s time where they’re vulnerable because of an EW [electronic warfare] threat, that’s time they can’t be doing their mission,” Saacks stated.
Combining AI and Simulation
The AI-enabled code generator, currently unnamed and in the early prototyping stages, combines CECOM’s A.I. Flow tool with ARAT’s Simulation Modeling Framework tool, according to Eric Bowes, the program officer of ARAT.
A.I. Flow and the Simulation Modeling Framework
A.I. Flow, an experimental program using Microsoft Azure Government’s open AI structure, assists with tasks such as contract writing and sorting. The Simulation Modeling Framework facilitates threat simulation and generates code for radio frequency waveforms from devices like software defined radios.
Reprogramming at the Edge
The goal is to enable soldiers to quickly reprogram waveforms to either jam an adversary’s system or become unidentifiable. Soldiers will be able to use voice or text prompts, and the AI will generate the necessary code.
Expediting Timelines
Bowes emphasized the importance of performing this reprogramming at the edge, explaining that this approach will save time compared to having soldiers develop code during combat. Soldiers could simply state the system they need to degrade and the system they have available, and the AI would provide a waveform or technique to counter or identify the threat.
Lessons from Ukraine
The need for speed derives from lessons learned in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, where traditional reprogramming cadences have shifted from weeks and months to hours and days.
Timeline and Certification
While the team hopes to deploy the tool as quickly as possible, it will likely be some time before soldiers see the new devices. A.I. Flow is currently in the process of obtaining an authority to operate, a formal certification required to operate in a sensitive environment.
Transformation in Contact
The development of this tool aligns with the Army’s ongoing transformation in contact initiative, which seeks to accelerate and improve capabilities through continuous development and refinement.
