How the "Golden Horde" of the Luftwaffe helps bombs to defeat GPS glitches?

It is known that enemy interference and electronic warfare could hinder targeting capabilities, but this new technology is aimed at solving that problem.

The Air Force is taking new steps to bring a promising new technology for in-flight weapon networking to war. This system is described as a computerized autonomous, collaborative data exchange function between weapons on the way to the target.

The service's so-called Golden Horde technology develops high-tech seekers into weapons such as small-diameter bombs to thwart enemy attempts, disrupt GPS targets, and exchange trajectory and battlefield data between weapons en route to a target. In an article by the Air Force, the technology is described as a "software-defined radio device for communication between weapons and a processor pre-installed with collaborative algorithms".

In flight, collaborative targeting allows a weapon to use its advanced viewfinder to identify an enemy interference and relay that tactical detail to another weapon so it can adjust course as needed. A recent Golden Horde test of small-diameter collaborative bombs exchanging data in flight showed promising results as well as areas of need for improvement. The Air Force tested the ability of air -drop bombs to share target-sensitive data in flight with one another in order to customize attack specifications, locate GPS Jammer, and optimize the speed and precision with which attack operations can be conducted.

Now the Air Force Research Lab is focusing its development efforts on the service's acquisition unit to build on its advances in developing the innovations necessary to make the weapon operational.

"If we continue with our acquisition partner, PEO-Waffen, they will know how to better structure the future acquisition of these weapons. We are working with the acquisition. This is certainly a S&T (science and technology) effort, but the partnership with PEO Weapons will enhance the subsequent acquisition initiatives it promotes, "Air Force Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), told a group of reporters.

Pringle's discussion of an AFRL alliance for S&T efforts with the Air Force acquisition is in line with current service-wide efforts to accelerate successful innovations from S&T with acquisition initiatives aimed at accelerating promising new technologies for the war to bring them together better. The concept, as spelled out in a recently released AFRL strategy document, is described by Pringle as an effort by the Air Force to closely align its research and laboratory community with experts in rapid acquisitions to capitalize on the near-term promise of new technical breakthroughs .

“It's a natural evolution of the advances the Golden Horde has made so far. Of course, you're familiar with the small diameter bombing flights that took place in February. They were successful in examining multiple SBDs and getting them on time and on a specific one Converging goals. So that's just a natural progression, but it's also a step in the right direction because it only brings us closer to this digital environment, "said Pringle.

The technical and tactical concepts of SBD cooperation on airborne weapons, according to the Air Force assessments, are intended to enable the sensors built into the weapons to detect new information, assess it in relation to preloaded mission specifications and carry out the necessary analyzes Course corrections are required. Even more advanced AI-enabled autonomy may be required to fully make this happen, but it is the culmination of a very significant breakthrough technology.

Kris Osborn is the Defense Editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified professional in the Army Deputy Secretary's Office for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist on national television networks. He has appeared as a visiting military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also holds a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.