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.
A new Air Force organization is searching for counter-drone firms to participate in a dozen or more exercises to help create operating plans by the end of this year for defending the service’s U.S.-based installations from drone attacks.