The United Kingdom is advancing sensor, spectrum capabilities and autonomous systems for so-called Cognitive Intelligent Sensing (CoInS) technologies, for the U.K. Ministry of Defence and the U.K. Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL)—akin to the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.
Several companies are conducting research and mounting partnerships to further capabilities to detect, track, sense in the spectrum, for drone operations and defense of other adversarial systems.
Under one such collaboration announced in May, Leonardo UK is partnering with artificial intelligence (AI) company Faculty.AI to bring lab-based or other emerging capabilities into CoInS and electronic warfare.
The partnership is Leonardo UK’s first under the country’s Collaboration Partner Programme, which enables innovators and companies of different sizes to advance joint products and services to market. The two companies previously worked together under specific contracted research projects in autonomy and electronic warfare, Leonardo reported.
The activity represents the flood of AI, machine learning and other autonomous systems into intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) research and development, with more and more embedded technologies going into ISR products and services.
The various research efforts are meant to accelerate the pace at which AI can be applied in the military.
Leonardo UK was already ramping up its AI capacity in general, given the demand growth for AI in defense and security industries, the company noted.
“The first joint projects will focus on the application of AI into CoInS and the technology will allow sensors to self-orientate themselves without the need for humans to operate them remotely,” Leonardo UK said in the report. “Leonardo and Faculty AI will also be looking at how AI can boost the capabilities of electronic warfare payloads and countermeasures for combat aircraft.”
The research will involve Leonardo UK’s BriteCloud decoy and the BriteStorm jamming system, with a focus on “practical outcomes” and leveraging AI for performance improvements, the company said.
“We will be looking for opportunities where Leonardo’s expertise in defence electronics sensors and integration, military rotorcraft and cyber security can incorporate the AI expertise of Faculty to deliver something of tangible benefit to our customers,” said Simon Harwood, capability director, Leonardo UK, in a statement.
Faculty.ai, meanwhile, began as a startup that placed academic fellows with companies to bridge the personnel gap between researchers in engineering, math, science doctorate and post-doctorate levels, explained Ross Adams, customer director for defence, Faculty.ai, in an interview with SIGNAL Media.
A mathematician by trade specializing in data science, data exploitation and delivery of artificial intelligence-related solutions, Adams sees the company further evolving as the AI renaissance continues to expand over the next several years and as they expand their offering of AI services and products. In addition to personnel placement, the company is specializing in creating bespoke AI and machine learning products for the military as well as customers in other sectors—energy, finance, insurance, retail, health and life sciences. Defense is their largest sector.
Faculty.ai also has a center of excellence for sensors, and when employees are not working on director and client projects, they collaborate with other researchers to explore what is coming out of universities. They examine what can be applied to sensor challenges—even if a technique isn’t initially used for radio frequency classification, Adams said.
One of the first military efforts of Faculty.ai was to help the U.K.’s new Defence AI Center in setting up a number of initiatives and exploring concept delivery considerations. The company has also worked with the DSTL, focusing on computer vision, autonomous software for drone deployment or signal classification, decision intelligence, cognitive sensing and predictive analytics, Adams shared.
The latest partnership work with Leonardo UK involves electronic warfare research, as Leonardo UK produces aircraft-based radar solutions to support the U.K. military and other global efforts. They are deploying Faculty AI’s technology and leveraging personnel expertise to improve internal processes and operations at nine Leonard UK sites.
“They are constantly looking at novel ways to try and improve their radars, so a lot of the research goes into that,” Adams said about partner Leonardo UK. “They are also looking at ways to counter drones, provide counter [unmanned aerial vehicle] security or find ways to deploy things onto a slightly smaller kit.”
Also, Faculty.ai and Leonardo UK are sponsoring several faculty fellowships, placing graduating master’s- and doctoral-level students in short-term industry placements.
“These will deliver impactful AI-based projects within Leonardo programmes, backed by support and training from Faculty AI’s team of experts,” Leonardo UK stated.
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