US Air Force completes tests of swarming munitions, but will they ever see battle?
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has wrapped up the first phase of its Golden Horde demonstration effort, putting the service one step closer to developing swarming smart weapons that behave semi-autonomously and use algorithms to seek high-priority targets.
But the technology won’t immediately move into a program of record, said Gen. Arnold Bunch, who leads Air Force Materiel Command. Instead, the service intends to conduct virtual experiments with collaborative munitions as it decides what elements of Golden Horde to further develop.
“We can determine what the gain out of that system may be, and then we will look for future ways that we can morph that into a program of record at a later time,” he told reporters during a Defense Writers Group event on June 4. “Right now, it is not moving into a program of record.”
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2021/06/07/us-air-force-successfully-completes-tests-of-swarming-munitions-but-their-future-is-unclear/
