The Air Force is readying a new Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance ‘flight plan’ aimed at posturing the service to take better advantage of artificial intelligence capabilities to meet growing peer competition from China and Russia, a top service intelligence official said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, deputy chief of staff for ISR, told attendees at an Air Force Association event that she will hold a roundtable on Aug. 2 to discuss the new policy plan, which formalizes efforts to increase use of AI in critical data analysis and support advanced technology industry opportunities.

Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters U.S. Air Force
Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters U.S. Air Force

“Our ISR enterprise today is not postured to meet these challenges with the intent laid out in the National Defense Strategy. And it says we must compete effectively in the current and future global security environment,” Jamieson said. “So our aim is to answer the call with you, industry, academia and government. And it’s really simple. We must build the next-generation ISR enterprise capable of possessing decision advantage across the entire spectrum of conflict.”

The Air Force’s Next Generation ISR Dominance Flight Plan will look to shift from a manpower-intensive intelligence collection operation to a whole-of-enterprise approach dedicated to using “data as a weapon” across a greater spectrum of threats, according to Jamieson.

The plan will involve operating on a commercially-relevant IT enterprise architecture and working to develop and field algorithms that provide instantaneous intelligence updates across the Air Force.

Jamieson said gaining control of AI capabilities is the necessary component to freeing up the Air Force from data collection toward intensive information analysis moving forward.

The new ISR flight plan arrives as China and Russia continue making large investments in AI technology.

China spent $12 billion on AI in 2017, with that number expected to grow to $70 billion by 2020, according to Jamieson.

“Go compare what we are spending to what China is spending,” Jamieson said. “[China] wants to have the world’s biggest assets, plus algorithms, plus supercomputing, plus artificial intelligence technology centers, plus global talent to equal global domination.”

Jamieson said a whole of enterprise approach with industry, government and academia will be required to match the effort put in by China, which Jamieson said includes a mandate to build the country into a manufacturing and cyber superpower.

“These are new dynamic approaches that we have not seen from the China of old. They show a willingness to foster national innovation, an ability to accept start-up failure and to build a digital future. And that should really make us think,” Jamieson said.

The Air Force also looks to Russia as a peer competitor in the global AI arms race, with Putin declaring in September 2017 that the leading nation in AI will also be the leader of the world.

“This is an insight to where Putin wants to go,” Jamieson said.

Russia recently released a 10-point AI plan, including forming a national artificial intelligence center, forming big data consortiums, and planning a future global AI conference, according to Jamieson.

“In this age, second place might as well be last place,” Jamieson said. “Those at the forefront of adopting and developing digital applications, such as advanced analytics, machine learning, virtual reality, cloud-based compute, will enjoy significantly new advantages over those who don’t and those who lag behind.”