AI driven fleet management improves aviator efficiency

One of the most innovative and forward-looking projects under the Jericho Disruption Innovation Program is already assisting aviators and enhancing the capability of the Royal Australian Air Force.

CAPTION: An example of aircraft to benefit from the Delphi system, a RAAF P-8A Poseidon takes off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Hawaii during Exercise RIMPAC 2022. Story by John Noble. Photo by Leading Seaman Daniel Goodman.

Delphi is a cutting-edge aircraft fleet management system designed to rapidly respond to RAAF aviators’ needs for managing their fleets in a less complicated and more immediate fashion.

Wing Commander Mike Moroney, who leads the Jericho team developing Delphi at Air Force Headquarters in Canberra, said the program was already paying dividends on the ground.

“In October 2021, the P8 fleet at Edinburgh was hit by a massive hail storm so all the fleet plans they had meticulously put together were rendered unusable because suddenly a great portion of the fleet was significantly impacted,” Wing Commander Moroney said.

“Within three weeks, our team was able to re-engineer Delphi to assist the P8 workforce at Edinburgh and it was just the solution they were seeking.

“It was able to help them rapidly optimise aircraft availability to put the fleet back on track and reassure the crews that they would be able to fly missions when and where they needed to.

“Delphi is especially innovative in that it uses agile software methodology in order to give our aviators a solution that is specifically suited for them when they need it and being able to constantly respond to change.”

Wing Commander Moroney was keen to emphasise that the agile approach pioneered through Delphi could be scaled across the Royal Australian Air Force so that aviators have software that was fit for purpose and that the latest technology could be delivered right into their hands.

Through a long-term collaboration with Defence Science and Technology Group researchers, Delphi is incorporating cutting-edge science to help fleet planners make decisions to respond to the changing needs of their fleet.

It is also showing how the use of rapidly evolving technology such as AI enhances Royal Australian Air Force capability.

Most importantly, Wing Commander Moroney said, implementation of intelligent applications such as Delphi showed how the responsible use of AI was enhancing the role of aviators, not replacing them.

“AI is not taking jobs away – instead the AI that has been delivered so far has removed the frustrations, limitations and things Royal Australian Air Force aviators don’t want to be doing so they can focus on high-value activities and improve performance.

“It is empowering aviators, which in turn strengthens RAAF’s capability.”

 

 

CONTACT believes RAAF is deliberately dropping ‘Royal Australian’ from its name – despite Defence assuring us it isn’t true. Campaigning against this name-change-by-stealth, CONTACT has appropriately ‘repaired’ this official story. See here for more details

 

 

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