LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Air Force is unveiling a new addition to its combat training — artificial intelligence.
The new software, which is called Crowdbotics, is currently being tested by the 59 Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in northeast Las Vegas. Channel 13's Kelsey McFarland takes us inside Nellis AFB for an exclusive look at how the program is being tested.
The new program is being tested at Nellis Air Force Base in northeast Las Vegas. The 59 Test and Evaluation Squadron is testing software — which is called Crowdbotics — to analyze combat training flight data.
While Crowdbotics is used primarily to analyze combat training flight data, officers say it's going to make training safer and more efficient by cutting the processing time in half.
"We want to provide the warfighter and the instructor with the best data possible so that our pilots perform the techniques in the proper way,” said First Lieutenant Darren Lopez-Leon.
Right now, pilots spend hours reviewing videos and going over the intricacies of their flights, but the program cuts that workload in half by analyzing the flight data quickly and efficiently in half the time.
"One thing that [AI] is really good at is taking a repetitive process and performing it at fractions of the time that it would take a human,” Lopez-Leon said.
The program is still in its infancy, but once it’s fully rolled out, the squadron says it will change the game for combat training at Air Force bases across the country.
Adam Ha, Lead F-15E Flight Test Engineer, says the software can provide consistent, quality training that helps eliminate a variety of human errors, including fatigue, stress and distractions.
"It allows them to get an objective view of what is happening and how they flew and be able to make incremental, sometimes significant changes to how they're flying to be safer, more effective or more lethal,” Ha said.
Officials say the United States Air Force recently signed a contract with Crowdbotics. From here, the software will be implemented into more aircraft and weapons on Nellis Air Force Base before eventually expanding to other bases.
