Artificial intelligence can calculate the difficult-to-predict trajectory of hypersonic missiles in 15 seconds, thereby giving air defense systems the opportunity to shoot them down on approach.
China has developed artificial intelligence, which, according to its creators, is able to predict the flight path of hypersonic missiles, allowing - at least in theory - to launch interception means.
In April, the Journal of Astronautics, a peer-reviewed scientific publication published by the Chinese Society of Astronautics, published an article authored by the staff of the Academy of Early Warning Means of the Chinese Air Force in Wuhan; the authors of the article claim that they have developed an AI capable of calculating the most likely flight path of a hypersonic rocket on the final approach. The forecast is made on the basis of data about it at the initial stages of the flight.
One of the key features of hypersonic weapons that complicate the fight against it is the ability to perform maneuvers using aerodynamic forces: the flight path of such a missile can be difficult to predict, and coupled with great speed, even automated interception systems can be useless.
Nevertheless, no one has canceled the laws of physics, and because of this, the trajectory of hypersonic weapons can be calculated.
According to the AI developers, it is able to give very accurate forecasts in 15 seconds, and it does not require any super-powerful systems to work - the AI works on a regular laptop.
Simulations have shown that AI remains effective against weapons moving at a speed of 12 Mach, that is, 12 times faster than the speed of sound.
In general, the researchers say, air defense systems can determine the trajectory of intercepting a hypersonic missile with a three-minute lead.
The key problem in calculating the trajectory of hypersonic weapons is the abundance of "noise" - garbage data that early warning systems collect when tracking a rocket that has taken off.
Processing this noise as useful data can require enormous amounts of computing; in this regard, researchers have developed a deep learning algorithm that is able to filter out "noise", identify useful data and, ultimately, simulate the work of the human brain, focusing only on what really matters.
The US is also developing AI-based anti-hypersonic weapons. As military experts say, artificial intelligence is the only working tool to increase the speed of response and reduce the likelihood of human errors in countering modern high-speed weapons.
Today's air defense systems can operate in partially autonomous mode: for example, the American Aegis can be programmed to respond to certain parameters of approaching objects, and if the system detects a match with these parameters, a warhead is released.
However, such systems cannot cope with maneuvering hypersonic missiles, at least without a well-trained human operator or without the use of artificial intelligence.
"AI will inevitably become part of the weapons systems of the future," says Alexey Vodiasov, technical director of SEQ. - AI does not get tired, does not give in to psychological influence, cannot gape, and definitely acts faster than a person. In addition, multiple AI-based air defense systems can easily be combined into one network and thereby provide coordinated coverage for large areas. However, AI in the field of weapons requires strict control on the part of people, otherwise the consequences can be apocalyptic. Ideally, international conventions on the use of AI in the defense sector are needed, but such documents cannot be expected in the foreseeable future."
While 12 Mach is the maximum response speed of the AI developed in China; quite a lot, however, hypersonic weapons systems are already being developed in China, where the missile flight speed can reach 30 Mach. In other countries, rocket technology is also being developed, moving at a speed of 17-20 Mach and more.
