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The US Air Force Global Strike Command will deploy AI technology in an effort to increase the reliability of its nuclear bombers and ICBMs as part of an expanding partnership with Virtualitics, a provider of artificial intelligence and data exploration software and services.
From its headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Global Strike Command overlooks the United States’ fleet of nuclear-capable strategic bombers, including the B-1B Lancer, B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress, plus three bombers. Missile wings of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Global Strike Command was created in 2008 as a major USAF command, and a follow-up to the Strategic Air Command, in the wake of a pair of incidents in which nuclear warheads and vehicle assemblies were mistakenly loaded into plans. Now the entirety of the Air Force’s nuclear arsenal (which accounts for two-thirds of the total US military’s nuclear arsenal) is handled by Global Strike Command.
Maintaining mission readiness and the ability to project force is at the heart of all US military branches, and Global Strike Command is no different. But with a fleet of aging and aging aircraft and the need to manage nuclear assets – not to mention the strategic nature of the mission – ensuring mission readiness takes on the unique flavor of Global Strike Command.
The Global Strike Command “Mission Capable” rating is the primary metric that indicates the health and readiness of the aircraft fleet. The USAF, along with other military branches, have been trying to improve this metric for years, but are actually holding back.
2020 report from the Government Accountability Office Major preparedness issues highlighted With planes across the entire army. None of the three bombers that make up the air component of the nuclear triad had a hit score. The B-2 Spirit — a relative baby with only 25 years of service for the fleet — met the mission-capable rate for six out of 11 years from 2011 to 2021. The B-52, which was launched by the U.S. Air Force in 1954, has hit the mark for three out of 11 years. , while the B-1B, which entered service in 1986, only met it once.
From bottom to top, a B-2, B-1B, and B-52 fly in formation over the Sierra Nevada (Photo courtesy of the USAF)
Nearly all of the aircraft were flagged in the GAO report as having failed the mission. “We looked at 49 types of military aircraft and found that only four types met their annual mission readiness targets from fiscal year 2011 through fiscal year 2021 – an overall decrease over time,” the GAO wrote. The GAO report highlighted problems with the B-1B, including unscheduled maintenance, shortages and delays in obtaining parts that further exacerbate the maintenance backlog, according to Article 2020 In the Air Force times.
virtual Its relationship with Global Strike Command began three years ago under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, and the relationship has evolved since then. The Pasadena, California company announced this week that it will move forward with an expansion of partnership that will see it build a center of excellence with Global Strike Command as part of a plan to expand the use of artificial intelligence.
The goal is to leverage the predictive power of artificial intelligence to increase aircraft availability and overall mission readiness for the ICBM fleet. To this end, Virtualitics will assist Global Strike leadership in specific areas, including predictive maintenance, inventory management, supply chain optimization, and workforce resource allocation.
says default datanami It will offer dashboards and analysis tools that USAF pilots will use directly. “We offer training for analysts who want to learn more about development and analysis using the platform, but there is no training required to use the system,” says the company.
The system will recommend which parts need to be replaced, and will provide “clear written explanations for why the algorithm recommended those parts be replaced,” the company says. “The models will also take into account the supply chain implications of these recommendations and the schedule constraints of maintainers, thereby optimizing these recommendations.”
Mag said. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, US Air Force (retired).
“Virtual technologies allow not only optimization of day-to-day decisions but more importantly publishing decisions,” Taliaferro said in a press release. “Knowing in advance what aircraft will need a major overhaul before deployment will enable much better decisions that can save taxpayers jobs and millions of dollars.”
Virtualitics is developing an AI platform called Intelligent Exploration that uses AI and machine learning to understand data, including identifying correlations and anomalies. The program has a visualization component and also uses “plain language” explanations to help users understand what it does. The company has clients in life sciences, technology, financial services and government.
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