AFRL Competition Seeks AI-Based Solutions to Improve Airlift Operations

The Air Force Research Laboratory will hold its second Airlift Challenge Competition from Oct. 30, 2023, to Feb. 19, 2024, wherein the participants will deploy artificial intelligence-based solutions on simulated airlift scenarios. 

The event, which AFRL first held from Jan. 23 to Feb. 27, pursues advanced algorithm development for airlift planning and execution. According to Andre Beckus, AFRL machine learning researcher, the contestants in the new three-and-a-half-month contest will tackle a series of airlift situations of increasing complexity. 

The competitors can submit solutions to environment simulations for immediate scoring and ranking on a real-time tally board. Three final winners will be chosen for presentation at the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling in Alberta, Canada, in June 2024, the AFRL said. 

In the first Airlift Challenge, a Florida-based independent researcher, John Kolen, topped the competition, while a five-person Raytheon Technologies research team took second place out of the 27 entries.

The Air Force’s current program searches for innovative ideas on advancing military capabilities also include the Air-to-Air Refueling Mechanism Digital Design Challenge, which is open till Dec. 12.