SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF221-0013

Description

Evasion: The return of peer advisory and the rise of inexpensive anti-access/area-denial weapons suggest that during a future war, the U.S. Air Force and its allies may lose significant numbers of planes for the first time in 3 decades. Additionally, downed pilots rely on the Combat Survivor/Evader Locator (CSEL), a joint services program with the Air Force as the lead agency. The CSEL is a communication system that provides the survivor/evader with precision Global Positioning System (GPS) based geo-position and navigation data, two-way over-the-horizon (OTH) secure data communication to a Joint Search and Rescue Center(s) (JSRC), OTH beacon operation, and Line-of-Sight (LOS) voice communication and swept tone beacon capabilities. The CSEL program was developed in the late 1990s when U.S. GPS satellites were out of reach of our enemies, adversaries were unable to jam or interrupt our communications, and our enemies could not use the pilot's beacon to locate them. All these assumptions are no longer valid, which means the Air Force must reimagine how down pilots survive, evade, resist, and escape. Currently, pilots are taught to avoid Lines of Communication (LOC) (e.g., roads, bridges, heavily used trails, etc.) until rescue is imminent and only if the rescue asset needs the pilots close to a LOC. Downed aircrews are traditionally taught to stay hidden until told to move by a rescue asset, or the enemy is close. Future wars will require that pilots take a more active role in their rescue by planning and maneuvering along routes to a designated recovery zone without the assistance of GPS while evading the enemy. Systems Engineering Inc. (SEI) and its teammate Mod-Atlantic Defense Solutions (MADS) will develop an AI Evasive Route Planner. Search and Rescue: Inland search and rescue (SAR) are the responsibility of the Air Force. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida coordinates all inland SAR operations in the continental United States. However, the prosecution of these SAR operations are carried out by the Civil Air Patrol, as well as state and local agencies. The AFRCC manages SAR plans, agreements and policies throughout the continental United States. Additionally, it presents a mobile Search Management Course to Civil Air Patrol wings, state, and local agencies throughout the United States. This joint school is designed for civilian and military personnel from federal, state, local and volunteer organizations, all of whom are responsible for SAR mission planning.  SAR operations are time-sensitive and critical functions. However, the SAR tactics used in SAR operations have not evolved to take advantage of 21st-century machine learning tools. SEI and MADS will predict a victim's current location, which will narrow the search grid. We will integrate our predictions with optimal search patterns, resulting in faster SAR operations and increasing the likelihood of the victim surviving.