Air Force Research Lab’s Human Effectiveness Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, has been key to the new speech recognition system that will premiere with the first production F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, reports the directorate’s John Schutte. The F-35 is the first US fighter that will be able to “hear” a pilot’s spoken commands to manage communications, navigation, and other subsystems. Work is still ongoing to “pinpoint problem phrases and recommend alternatives” to ensure “optimal performance” as the system heads into operational testing. SRI International’s DynaSpeak, developed for noisy environments, is speaker independent, so it doesn’t matter which pilot gives commands. SRI is working with Adacel Systems, Inc. to tailor the system for the JSF.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
