Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) hosted the second annual Robust Artificial Intelligence Test Event (RAITE) at Muscatatuck Training Center on October 21-25. This event allowed members from academia, industry, and government to collaborate on an unclassified level and test AI efforts in real-world scenarios on a cyber-physical range.
"RAITE brings together multiple AI and counter-AI (C-AI) efforts to support U.S. government-wide research," said Tyler Fitzsimmons, AI Chief Engineer for Platform Systems and RAITE Lead. "The critical customer base at NSWC Crane can leverage RAITE's collaborative nature to ensure success in the AI/C-AI space, especially given the fast pace of the field."
During the event, participants were divided into three teams - red, blue, and purple. The red and blue teams worked through different scenarios, with the red team "acting" offensively against the blue team while they provided baseline capabilities. The purple team observed the experiment and provided metrics once it was completed.
Professor Paul Brenner is a Director in the University of Notre Dame's Center for Research Computing and a Cyber Officer in the United States Air Force Reserves. Brenner attended with fellow faculty members and students to showcase their capabilities in AI.
"With the rapid evolution of AI technology and global security challenges, RAITE is an increasingly critical opportunity for Universities, NGOs, Industry and DoD to collaboratively prototype, leverage, secure and counter AI," said Brenner. "University of Notre Dame faculty demonstrated advanced Large Language Models integrated into swarms of low-cost robots capable of dynamically adjusting image recognition under attack scenarios."
The future of warfare is ever-changing with AI playing a critical role. In her 2024 Navigation Plan, Chief of Naval Operations ADM Lisa Franchetti states that the US Navy is "pursuing long-lead experimentation that will define future hybrid fleets," keeping sailors ahead of adversaries.
During RAITE 2024, the White House released its first-ever National Security Memorandum on AI addressing gaps in safety where NSWC Crane ensures readiness against future threats.
"RAITE aims to address test gaps, explore new capabilities, facilitate collaboration, providing warfighters confidence in technology," said Fitzsimmons. "NSWC Crane moves towards enabling trust in AI systems ensuring robust testing paradigms."
Even though RAITE is only in its second year, Fitzsimmons remains optimistic about its future growth.
"RAITE will continue to grow with evolving fields," said Fitzsimmons. "While RAITE 2023 focused on computer vision; RAITE 2024 includes multi-modal systems across domains ensuring safe deployment understanding various trajectories."
The event was co-sponsored by Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) & Office Under Secretary Defense Research Engineering OUSD(R&E).
About NSWC Crane
NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory field activity under NAVSEA supporting Expeditionary Warfare Strategic Missions Electromagnetic Warfare responsible multi-domain life cycle technologies enhancing Warfighter capability today.