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Science & Technology
New US Air Force secretary to shake up Advanced Battle Management Program
2021-08-25
[C4IsrNet] The new U.S. Air Force secretary says he’s skeptical about current plans to build the service’s Advanced Battle Management System, signaling the program could be heading for an overhaul.

“I want to focus it more on specific operational return on investment,” Frank Kendall told Defense News in a Aug. 13 interview. “Where do we get the most improvement in performance operationally in the battlefield, for investments in that type of technology?”

“I don’t think we’ve thought thoroughly enough about where that type of technology can have the most impact and how to get there as quickly as we can,” he said. “I want to emphasize fielded, meaningful military capability, not just a demonstration that you show what cool thing you could do, but real capability in the hands of operators.”

The goal of the ABMS program is to create an “internet of things” for the military that would provide the technical infrastructure to connect all platforms and sensors, allowing information to flow freely among them. The service is also interested in integrating artificial intelligence technologies that could parse information and aid in decision making.

But in Kendall’s view, the program has yet to answer important questions about what information will be transmitted and why, what results it is aiming to achieve and how those results will be an improvement on current command-and-control capabilities.
Related:
Advanced Battle Management System: 2020-09-15 Massive breakthrough: 155 mm howitzer artillery destroys incoming cruise missile
Related:
Frank Kendall: 2016-02-08 Pentagon orders commanders to prioritize climate change in all military actions
Frank Kendall: 2015-08-01 Marines: F-35B Squadron Ready for Worldwide Deployment
Frank Kendall: 2015-01-29 U.S. military budget to start funding post-F-35 'X-plane'
Posted by:Skidmark

#19  In the shade of a terebinth-- "GIDEON!
You'd better be chipping obsidian,
Not dreaming or scribbling!"
"Yes, dear," he sighs, nibbling
A nut as he slaughtereth Midian.
Posted by: Flains Flinter9060   2021-08-25 18:44  

#18  
AI - Programming by Men - Strategic Approach ~ Chess

AI - Programming by Women - Asymmetry ~ Cat Fights
Posted by: Betty Omomonter3979   2021-08-25 18:34  

#17  Hold up.

Isn't 'secretary' old white male r@p-st hat speech?

Think we need Benny Drama on a catwalk with a 4 hour powerpoint presentation to explain how triggering this is.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-08-25 18:18  

#16  You can smell the arrogance in assuming that the Enemy™ will be incapable of jamming, spoofing, hacking and/or suborning the network system. Brings up the question that "If we are that superior why do we need fancy toys -- why not squash them like the bugs they are?"
Posted by: magpie   2021-08-25 13:43  

#15  #13 Mundanes!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-08-25 10:17  

#14  Every day is a sci-fi story. You wake up under a nuclear furnace and actually enjoy it.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-08-25 10:12  

#13  Alternative histories and SciFi, not my thing. My simple mind bogs down often enuf dealing with reality. Each to his own I suppose.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-08-25 10:10  

#12  Fred has a couple of science fiction books in the yellow sidebar. Good reads all, I thought.
Posted by: trailing wife   2021-08-25 09:58  

#11  Last guy who could be considered to have a sexual chip on his shoulder and wrote a good Sci-fi story all the same, Samuel R. Delaney. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is still one of my favorites.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-08-25 08:51  

#10  #8 Skidmark, fabulous collection. I have all three. Those are all writers who just got it.

Hardly anyone from the current crop of woke wakandan hippies and lesbìan lunatics being entertained by the publishers can tell a story that will mean something to everybody who reads it.
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-08-25 07:04  

#9  they'll continue to do so to make sure he doesn't come back.

He's probably in The Region Between, Mike.
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-08-25 06:58  

#8  Dangerous Visions
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-08-25 06:45  

#7  Since then, whenever the credits roll, Harlan Ellison is always mentioned. One of my favourite writers.
Posted by: Dron66046 2021-08-25 03:55


...And even though Harlan has shuffled off this mortal coil, they'll continue to do so to make sure he doesn't come back.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2021-08-25 06:02  

#6  ^😂
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-08-25 04:06  

#5  If decision making itself is left to AI, that'd be something. We could start with courts.

A networked microchip array and a few SSDs could deliver in a second what a thousand judges and district attorneys and two thousand clerks couldn't in months.

Adapting the thing to battle would be far iffier. But policywise, AI would slay.
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-08-25 04:00  

#4  Fun fact, Grom:

Did you know that a story by Harlan Ellison was the inspiration for The Terminator, the whole Skynet premise? Story goes, Ellison was uncredited by the makers although they took the idea for an evil AI and humanoid killbot from his work. So he encountered Cameron at a party and punched him in the face. Being a black belt he musta caused good pain too.

Since then, whenever the credits roll, Harlan Ellison is always mentioned. One of my favourite writers.
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-08-25 03:55  

#3  There was a 60es story by Poul Anderson (name escapes me). The bad guy is connected to a computer that gives him an IQ of 1000 - but he's still an idiot.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-08-25 03:23  

#2  connect all platforms and sensors, allowing information to flow freely among them... also interested in integrating artificial intelligence technologies ... parse information and aid in decision making.

Posted by: Dron66046   2021-08-25 02:43  

#1  we would get more ability out of everything f ppl like you were not involved.
Posted by: Chris   2021-08-25 00:57  

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