The US military’s plan to deploy thousands of drones in preparation for a potential conflict with China is behind schedule, and the work has been shifted to a new organization to accelerate the timeline, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted informed sources as saying in a report on Friday.
The US Department of Defense’s goal to field thousands of artificial intelligence (AI) drones to the Indo-Pacific region by last month has fallen short, the newspaper reported.
The article, written by Shelby Holiday, Heather Somerville and Brenna Smith, said this work, called the “Replicator Program,” is being transferred to a new organization, the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), to address challenges it has faced.
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The program was proposed by former US deputy secretary of defense Kathleen Hicks during the administration of former US president Joe Biden.
It aimed to buy large numbers of small, smart and affordable AI weapons for land, air and sea combat that would enable autonomous warfare, lowing costs and personal risks.
In the case of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, which US analysts predict could happen as early as 2027, these autonomous weapons would enable the US military to efficiently operate across the Pacific.
However, the program has faced challenges that have slowed its timeline, including unreliable weapons that have proven too costly or slow to produce, preventing the Pentagon from buying the large numbers required, the article said.
The Pentagon has also struggled to find software that can simultaneously control so many drones, especially as they come from different manufacturers, but getting them to operate together is the key to the Replicator Program, it said.
During a drill last month in California, many of the program’s technologies did not meet expectations, it said.
For example, an uncrewed boat developed by BlackSea Technologies went adrift after a steering failure, an aerial drone made by Anduril Industries had a delayed launch due to a technical issue, and the software on several uncrewed boats failed to correctly identify targets, it said.
In addition, BlackSea’s global autonomous reconnaissance craft that were not designed for long-range missions in the Pacific were bought before officials fully understood their limits, which resulted in high costs and delays, the article said.
Moreover, of about a dozen autonomous systems under consideration, three were only at the development stage when they were selected, it added.
People involved in the project said it laid the foundation for the US military to procure large-scale autonomous systems, while Hicks said the program was on track when she left office in January.
A defense official said the Replicator Program is now overseen by US Special Operations Command Vice Commander Francis Donovan, who saw many of the problems firsthand when he took charge last month.
The DAWG has less than two years to deliver the autonomous systems the Pentagon requires, highlighting how urgently US officials feel they need to be ready for a conflict, people familiar with the matter said.
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