Raytheon Technologies has infused emerging technology into the company’s modeling and simulation process as part of efforts to help defense customers visualise the performance of weapons systems before they make procurement decisions.
The company said, an engineering team within its missiles and defense business used artificial intelligence and machine learning to put a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missile through digital testing ahead of a flight test demonstration conducted by the U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency in November, 2020.
Engineers collected and integrated data from previous SM-3 interceptor tests into a model as part of the process.
“AI and machine learning are critical to the company’s modeling and simulation framework,” Bob Fitzpatrick, vice president of requirements and capabilities at Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
“Every new flight test and every new experiment looks a little different than the last one and that means there’s a lot of rapid learning happening for the company and its customers,” Fitzpatrick added.
Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense, noted that modeling and simulation could help the warfighter understand the potential of current and future platforms to gain an edge in battlefield missions.
The company received a USD 722.4 million contract from MDA in late October to provide SM-3 engineering and technical support to U.S. and international defense customers.
