RAF ‘Top Gun’ pilots could soon have a high-tech wingman in the cockpit – with AI helping to select targets and assess threats.
Defence contractor BAE Systems is overhauling its Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.
The AI is being trialled in a flight simulator at BAE’s site in Warton, Lancashire, to help pilots assess ‘threat information’.
It is hoped the technology will be installed by the 2030s.
BAE believes the Typhoon, introduced in 2003 as a partnership between Britain, Germany and Italy, can last into the 2060s. Its new technology includes a much larger control display for pilots who currently have to monitor three screens.
Modifications include counter-electronic warfare measures and a helmet providing a 360-degree virtual display of the skies, projected onto the visor.
Timely boost: BAE expects the Eurofighter Typhoon to last into the 2060s
Paul Smith, head of Typhoon strategy at BAE and an ex-Typhoon pilot, said: ‘There’s still going to be a human in control, but the AI is just helping the pilot as decision maker.’
BAE has been working with Swedish firm Avioniq to develop the AI tool, called Rattlesnaq. It can map areas where there is a risk of enemy missile fire beyond a pilot’s visual range, recommend a safe path and suggest targets.
Typhoons are in service in the Middle East and eastern Europe, and provide rapid-response cover around the UK. Smith said: ‘When threats are constantly changing, you need live, on-the-edge situational awareness to enable pilots to operate effectively. Mikael Grev, co-founder of Avioniq and a Swedish air force pilot for 17 years, said the AI ‘means a single aircraft can deliver greater force-multiplying effect, defeating a wider range of threats more efficiently’.
He adds: ‘Among western militaries it is unique and really innovative. I thought it would be a good idea to create a decision support system that can keep track of everything.’
BAE, which reports its half-year results on Wednesday, received a boost to its Typhoon business last week when the UK signed a multi-billion pound deal to sell the jets to Turkey.
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