{"id":31871,"date":"2023-06-28T18:04:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T18:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/06\/28\/autonomous-drones-may-help-air-force-slash-aircraft-inspection-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:42:32","slug":"autonomous-drones-may-help-air-force-slash-aircraft-inspection-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2023\/06\/28\/autonomous-drones-may-help-air-force-slash-aircraft-inspection-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Autonomous drones may help Air Force slash aircraft inspection times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Air Force is experimenting with a mix of drones, artificial intelligence and cloud collaboration to find ways to slash the time it takes to inspect aircraft for wear and tear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In trials backed by aircraft manufacturer Boeing<\/a> and Near Earth Autonomy, a developer of drone operating systems, service technicians at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii are launching autonomous uncrewed aerial systems with mounted cameras to catalog the condition of Boeing C-17 cargo planes that transport heavy weapons and passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to reduce the complexity of aircraft checkups while also improving the accuracy and reliability of information. Whereas traditional exterior examinations can take hours and still miss tiny details, the drone-centric approach, fueled by pattern recognition and 3D models, is far quicker and feeds verified observations to a secure repository, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA preflight inspection right now can take up to four hours. We can do it in 30 minutes. That is a significant time savings for airmen and making sure that the aircraft is available, ready to go,\u201d Alli Locher, a manager with Near Earth Autonomy<\/a>, told reporters June 27 at an event in Virginia. \u201cEventually you\u2019ll be able to just pull up a tail number, click anywhere on that 3D model of that aircraft and be able to see a history of images of that exact part you clicked on, from anywhere in the world over the life of the aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the U.S. Defense Department prepares for potential fights in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe, the Air Force is pursuing a concept known as Agile Combat Employment. ACE envisions a hub-and-spoke layout of bases: some larger and fixed, some smaller and mobile.<\/p>\n\n\n\t