Veteran hypersonic weapons adviser leads research on an artificial intelligence system that trains itself to better analyse wind tunnel experiments.

The Pentagon is looking to engineer self-guiding hypersonic weapons with emerging levels of autonomy to quickly adjust course in flight as needed, adapt to emerging targets and avoid defensive threats. Of course, humans would make the necessary command and control decisions when it comes to the use of lethal force, per existing Pentagon doctrine. Yet enabling missiles traveling at hypersonic speeds to draw upon advanced sensors and guidance technology could, for instance, enable an attack to rapidly adjust to an enemy countermeasure, destroy an approaching interceptor or even alter its trajectory to avoid any impediments to attack. This kind of technical focus, mentioned by the Pentagon's Principal Director for Hypersonics Michael White, seeks to build upon fast emerging progress in the area of autonomy. "So you can think of autonomy and hypersonics being integrated in the way you fly vehicles and the things you might do with those vehicles," White told reporters according to a Pentagon transcript.

A "masterpiece" is how then-Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan infamously described the Fiscal Year 2020 budget request. It would, he said, align defense spending with the U.S. National Defense Strategy -- both funding the future capabilities necessary to maintain an advantage over near-peer powers Russia and China, and maintaining readiness for ongoing counter-terror campaigns. While research and development funding increased in 2020, it did not represent the funding shift toward future capabilities that observers expected. Despite its massive size, the budget was insufficient to address the department's long-term challenges. Key emerging technologies identified by the department -- such as hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and directed-energy weapons -- still lacked a "clear and sustained commitment to investment." It was clear that the Department of Defense did not make the difficult tradeoffs necessary to fund long-term modernization.

Fox News Flash top headlines for Sept. 23 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com Drone fighter jets, hypersonic attack planes, artificial intelligence, lasers, electronic warfare and sensors woven into the fuselage of an aircraft are all areas of current technological exploration for the Air Force as it begins early prototyping for a new, 6th-Generation fighter jet to emerge in the 2030s and 2040s. While the initiative, called Next Generation Air Dominance(NGAD), has been largely conceptual for years, Air Force officials say current "prototyping" and "demonstrations" are informing which technologies the service will invest in for the future. "We have completed an analysis of alternatives and our acquisition team is working on the requirements. We are pretty deep into experimenting with hardware and software technologies that will help us control and exploit air power into the future," Gen. James Holmes, Commander, Air Combat Command, told reporters at the Association of the Air Force Air, Space and Cyber Conference.

WASHINGTON – The United States is eager to spur innovation in its defense industry at a time when China is investing in advanced technologies including fifth-generation, or 5G, high-speed communications equipment, artificial intelligence systems and hypersonic weapons. In contrast to a vibrant U.S. industry, Japanese defense-related companies have long been part of a "lukewarm environment where business opportunities are guaranteed but profits are limited," a Japanese defense industry source said. In March, the U.S. Air Force held a new event to hear presentations from about 60 small and startup businesses, with contract money available on the spot to those with innovative ideas. Speed, as well as originality and innovation, is essential in competition between major powers, according to then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. In particular, the United States is alarmed by China's development of hypersonic weapons, as its existing missile defense equipment is unable to shoot such weapons down.

Pentagon and industry developers are now testing a new series of hypersonic weapons prototypes as part of a large-scale effort to fast-track the weapons to service. The U.S. acceleration of the weapons, which includes air flights, ground-firing, wind-tunnels, simulation and various kinds of prototyping, is widely discussed as much needed response to Russian and Chinese progress in the area of hypersonics. Flight tests, demonstrations, ground testing and advanced air-vehicle configuration prototyping are all providing data for an Air Force, DARPA and Raytheon hypersonic weapons program called Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapons Concept, or HAWC. DARPA statements on the program, citing program manager Andrew Knoedler, identify key areas of developmental emphasis to include "hydrocarbon scramjet-powered propulsion to enable sustained hypersonic cruise." DARPA information, mirrored by Raytheon weapons developers, explains that "sustaining" speeds at 5-times the speed of sound is a technical characteristic to hypersonic weapons...and the HAWC in particular.

Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, is something like Q for the Defense Department. He formerly ran the Strategic Capabilities Office, a secretive military skunkworks designed to figure out how to fight future wars. While there, he helped design swarms of tiny unmanned drones; he helped create Project Maven; and he tried to partner the Defense Department with the videogame industry. Now his new job may be even harder: Making the Air Force acquisitions process efficient. He's going to be leading a pitch day for the Air Force this week in New York City, and he spoke with WIRED about that and also where he sees the future of military technology going--from AI to hypersonic weapons to space. Nicholas Thompson: You're launching a new system very soon to help get startups very quickly signed up to Air Force contracts. Tell me how it works and why you are doing it. Will Roper: We've got to be able to work with the entire industry base, and even our fastest agreements still take a couple of months to get nailed down. That's too long for a startup that needs cash flow quickly. And so we really worked hard to hack our system and we've gotten down to where we can do credit-card-based awards on a single day.