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SOCOM Wants Industry Ideas On More Automation for AC-130J

Frank Wolfe

Wednesday, February 6th, 2019

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SOCOM Wants Industry Ideas On More Automation for AC-130J

An AC-130J taxis the runway for its first official sortie Jan. 31, 2014, at Eglin AFB, Fla. Photo: Air Force.

U.S. Special Operations Command wants to make the Lockheed Martin [LMT] AC-130J gunship "more crew friendly" and to reduce crew size through artificial intelligence and machine learning, James Smith, the acquisition executive for SOCOM, told the 30th Annual Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC) Symposium in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 6. Air Force Col. Melissa Johnson, the fixed wing program executive officer for SOCOM, told the attendees in a separate address that the goal is "reducing crew complement and workload" through automation…

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