Air Force Taps Machine Learning to Speed Up Flight Certifications

Machine learning is transforming the way an Air Force office analyzes and certifies new flight configurations. The Air Force SEEK EAGLE Office sets standards for safe flight configurations by testing and looking at historical data to see how different stores--like a weapon system attached to an F-16--affect flight. A project AFSEO developed along with industry partners can now automate up to 80% of requests for analysis, according to the office's Chief Data Officer Donna Cotton. "The application is kind of like an eager junior engineer consulting a senior engineer," Cotton said. "It makes the straightforward calls without any input, but in the hard cases it walks into the senior engineer's office and says: 'Hey, I did a bunch of research and this is what I found out. Can you give me your opinion?'" Cotton spoke at a Tuesday webinar hosted by Tamr, one of the industry partners involved in the project.