The Air Force’s Growing Pursuit of Artificial Intelligence Capabilities

Many of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) agencies and each of the Military Departments (MILDEPs) are pursuing technological innovations to support the U.S. warfighting mission, improve enterprise operations, reduce costs and multiply personnel effectiveness. Increasingly, this includes efforts to develop, pilot and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies and AI/ML-empowered capabilities.

Previously, I highlighted several Department of the Navy’s efforts to develop and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to gain operational advantages across numerous areas. Today, I will look at the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and their ongoing efforts to develop and integrate AI/ML capabilities to increase both effectiveness and efficiencies as the service continues to pursue greater integrated joint operations and seeks to build the future force.

Observing the Air Force’s IT-related actions and policy development, and looking at the Air Force’s FY 2025 budget request, here are just a few of the AI-related actions and efforts underway:

• AI-enabled CIO Strategy: The Air Force’s CIO Public Strategy for FY 2023 – FY 2028 notes plans to operationalize data and AI/ML capabilities notes plans to operationalize data and AI/ML capabilities for greater effectiveness. Objectives include entrenching AI/ML training data and algorithmic models across all Air Force application and platforms; establishing a federated data ecosystem overlaid and integrated with Air Force weapon systems and theater operations to ensure data is useable for AI/ML applications; and leveraging data and AI/ML to solve challenges to business enterprise efficiency, mission operations integration and greater warfighting capacity.
• IT Architecture Modernization: In July 2024, the Air Force Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) released its initial version of an Application Programming Interface (API) Reference Architecture and API Roadmap to guide development of an enterprise API platform to enhance software interface-sharing and secure data access. According to the Roadmap, the implementation of an API-first architecture and improved data management is critical to the advancement of the DAF’s Data and AI Line of Effort (LOE) under its IT priorities for FY23-FY28.
• AI Battlefield Capabilities: The Air Force is working to develop new AI solutions for several battlefield combat tasks, including target identification, distributed command and control, and autonomous drones, known as collaborative combat aircraft. The Air Force has issued a broad agency announcement to provide insights into the service’s vision for adapting AI capabilities on the battlefield.
• Generative AI: In June, the Air Force and Space Force launched a generative AI tool – Non-classified Internet Protocol Generative Pre-training Transformer (NIPRGPT) – to encourage personnel to experiment with it for tasks such as summarizing reports, IT assistance and coding. The initiative will help assess how AI could improve access to information and to gauge demand for these capabilities. In May, the Air Force CIO and Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAIO) hosted the first of three Generative AI roundtables to identify strategies for effective GenAI use and partnerships with industry and academia.
• AI Flight Tests: The Air Force is running experiments comparing AI agents flying fighter aircraft against human pilots, comparing performance across multiple engagement scenarios. AI and human pilots were “roughly even” during latest tests, but expectations are for AI to continue advancing.

Following Air Force AI/ML Efforts

The Air Force’s evolving AI/ML policies, strategies and guidance will continue to drive numerous research and development (R&D) efforts and pilot implementations. As these initiatives mature and produce growing benefits, expect their number, size and scope to multiply. Many of these initiatives, if not most, get their start at the Air Force Research Laboratory, (see their AFRL.com site as well), but several commands across the Air Force are exploring AI/ML capabilities. Check out the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) portion of the Air Force FY 2025 budget for details.

As the Air Force continues to look to innovative companies to develop and harness AI/ML technologies, innovative small businesses have a major role to play in partnering with the service to bring these new capabilities to bear on the Air Force’s multidomain mission.