AFRL demos digital twin capability with Gray Wolf swarming weapon system

The Air Force Research Laboratory recently demonstrated an emerging digital twin capability that uses artificial intelligence and the Advanced Battle Management System network to update weapons' software and improve their performance mid-flight.

AFRL testers conducted a virtual flight of the experimental Gray Wolf swarming cruise missile system to showcase the capability, according to a press release issued today. They combined data from the simulation with data from a battlefield environment and sent the information through ABMS back to digital twins.

"This demonstration is just the first of many that will come as we move the weapons enterprise into an era of digital engineering, accelerating weapons development and improvement at the speed of relevance," Craig Ewing, senior scientist for AFRL's weapons modeling and simulation directorate, said in the notice.

The digital twins use high-performance computing systems bolstered by AI and machine learning to assess possible software upgrades. This information then returns to the weapons nearly in real-time or for the next air tasking order.

Testers will continue to develop the capability this year to enable them to bi-directionally share data with the virtual twins' physical counterparts, the release states.

Separately, AFRL's Gray Wolf program is testing low-cost, collaborative cruise missiles using an airframe built by Northrop Grumman and first-of-its-kind TDI-J85 turbojet engine built by Kratos-owned Technical Directions. In the absence of continued funding, the Air Force plans to cancel Gray Wolf once testing finishes but is continuing to develop a swarming munitions capability under the Golden Horde program.