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Stephen Chen

A generative AI that can boost the performance of electronic warfare drones has been developed by scientists in China’s defence industry.
This large language model (LLM), similar to ChatGPT, can command a drone equipped with electronic warfare weapons to attack enemy aircraft radar or communication systems.
Its decision-making performance in air combat not only surpasses traditional artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as reinforcement learning, but is also better than experienced human experts, test results suggest.
This is the first publicly disclosed research that directly applies large language models to weapons.
Previously, such AI technology was mainly limited to war rooms, offering intelligence analysis or decision-making help to human commanders.
The research project was jointly launched by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, Shaanxi province.
The institute is the designer of China’s heavy stealth fighter J-20, while the university has been in the crosshairs of cyberattacks launched by the US government, owing to its pioneering research in cutting-edge technology.
According to a paper published by the project team on October 24 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Detection & Control, the work is still in the experimental stage.
Among existing artificial intelligence technologies, LLMs are the most adept at understanding human language.
The project team fed the LLM with a wealth of sources, the team said, including “book series on radar, electronic warfare and related literature collections”.
More sensitive materials, including air combat records, weapons inventory set-up records and electronic warfare operation manuals, were also put to the model.
Most of the training materials were in Chinese, according to the researchers.
Electronic warfare mirrors a cat-and-mouse game, where the attacker unleashes specific electromagnetic waves to quell the radar signals emitted by the target.
The defender, in turn, tries to evade these attacks by continuously altering signals, forcing the opponent to adapt its strategy in real time based on surveillance data.
Previously, it was believed that LLMs were ill-suited for such tasks due to their inability to interpret sensor-collected data.

Generative AI also often demands longer contemplation times, falling short of the millisecond-level response speed essential in electronic warfare.
To circumvent these challenges, scientists delegated the raw data processing to a less complex reinforcement learning model. This traditional AI algorithm excels in comprehending and analysing vast amounts of numerical data.
The “observation value vector parameters” extracted from this preliminary process are then transformed into human language via a machine translator. The large language model then takes the reins, processing and analysing this information.
The translator converts the large model’s responses into output instructions, which ultimately control the electronic warfare jammer.
Test results have confirmed the feasibility of this technology, according to the researchers. With the aid of reinforcement learning algorithms, generative AI can swiftly adjust attack strategies up to 10 times per second.
When pitted against traditional AI and human expertise, LLMs prove superior in creating a multitude of false targets on enemy radar screens. This disruptive strategy is deemed more valuable in the realm of electronic warfare than mere suppression with noise or deflecting radar waves away from genuine targets.


“They still have many practical issues to address, including chips, the size of model and security risks,” said a Beijing-based AI scientist who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
“But there’s little doubt that ‘words can kill’ is evolving from a philosophical concept to reality,” he said.


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News

China

Chinese scientists have developed a large language model that can command military drones to attack enemy radar systems


Chinese scientists have developed a large language model that can command military drones to attack enemy radar systems.


Artificial intelligence

Drones

China’s military

China technology