DETROIT — Taking a page from the Air Force, the U.S. Army is expanding its use of artificial intelligence that can predict when its aircraft will break, according to a top service official.
If successful in upcoming trials, the technology will be used more broadly to help manage maintenance and spare parts, said James McPherson, the Army’s No. 2 civilian.
“We’re optimistic that we’ll prove a success [and] save money,” McPherson said in an interview at an Association of the U.S. Army AI conference here. “Then we’ll move [the technology] to everything else. Vehicles will be next.”
McPherson is the Army’s general counsel, but has been the “senior official performing the duties” of the service’s undersecretary since the summer.
In recent years, defense leaders have spoken at length about the desire to incorporate technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning into the military as a way to help leaders make quicker decisions, operate more efficiently and free up troops for other roles.
All of the military services have launched predictive maintenance projects. The Air Force is applying the technology to C-5 cargo planes and B-1 bombers. The Marine Corps recently hired artificial intelligence firm Uptake to monitor its M88s recovery vehicles. The Pentagon is also looking at ways to use the technology on warships.
Citing joint work on AI and hypersonic weapons, McPherson said, “When we pool our resources, we can get so much more accomplished than ..
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