AFRL completes first Golden Horde collaborative weapon demonstration

摘要

A software load error resulted in the first flight demonstration of the US Air Force's Golden Horde networked collaborative weapons programme registering only a partial success. The test, undertaken at the end of 2020, used technology developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Scientific Applications & Research Associates (SARA). Two modified Boeing GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb I (SDB I) munitions were released, but a software glitch meant that targeting updates could not be communicated between the weapons as planned. The Golden Horde initiative, selected in 2019 as an Air Force Vanguard programme, integrates datalink radios and collaborative behaviours to enable guided weapon systems to work together dynamically in real time to prioritise and defeat targets. This shared data is used to improve information across an entire group or 'swarm' of weapons to defeat adversary defences and improve overall effectiveness.