US Air Force gears up for first flight test of Golden Horde munition swarms

[rangerrebew]

US Air Force gears up for first flight test of Golden Horde munition swarms
By: Valerie Insinna   
 

WASHINGTON — As a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot closes in on a target, she fires four GPS-guided bombs. As the weapons swarm toward their destination, sharing information about their surroundings, one of the munitions sights a higher-priority target nearby. Instantly, the game plan changes — the bombs’ programming now directs two of the weapons toward the high-priority target, while the rest carry out the original strike.

That scenario is similar to one the Air Force Research Laboratory plans to test this year using a Collaborative Small Diameter Bomb, one of the two munitions the Air Force is developing in the Golden Horde program.

With Golden Horde, the Air Force aims to find out whether munitions can be networked together and operate autonomously after launch according to a set of predetermined rules. Col. Garry Hasse, director of AFRL’s Munitions Directorate, emphasized that this capability is different than a weapon that can independently make decisions based on artificial intelligence.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/07/13/air-force-gearing-up-for-first-flight-test-of-golden-horde-munition-swarms/

[rangerrebew]

The Air Force Is Moving From Smart Bombs to Thinking Bombs

Golden Horde introduces swarm tactics to guided munitions—but it also lets the weapons make real decisions.
By Kyle Mizokami   
Jul 15, 2020
 
 

    The U.S. Air Force is preparing to test its new Golden Horde swarming munitions concept.
    Golden Horde will allow weapons to make decisions and work collaboratively.
    The munitions can change attack plans while en route to their targets.

The U.S. Air Force is preparing to test its new Golden Horde swarming munition concept for the first time, which would allow aircraft to launch multiple weapons against targets on the ground. Once in the air, those weapons could change their attack plans as they receive new information, actively making decisions about which targets to destroy.

Golden Horde represents a step change in weapons technology, building on “smart” weapons to make ones that actively “think.”

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a33312455/air-force-golden-horde-thinking-bombs/

[Cyber Liberty]

Gee, what could go wrong?

[Hoodat]

The ZF-1 assault weapon

[EdinVA]

So, we are going to send in multiple manned fighters (f-16's) to drop unmanned drones.
We need two f-16's in case the first one misses the target....
We used drones to keep pilots and more expensive aircraft "out" of harms way....
And this makes sense to someone?  God help us...