Russian aircraft covered with tires to evade AI-guided weapons
Russian military covered aircraft with tires at air bases to defeat AI-guided missile seekers that use computer vision for target identification. A U.S. military official confirmed the tires disrupt image-matching models' ability to recognize aircraft as intended targets.", "event_date": "2023-09", "facts": [ { "claim": "Russia began covering Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers and Su-34 jets with tires at Engels-2 Air Base in fall 2023 following Ukrainian kamikaze drone attacks.", "source_url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-covering-aircraft-tires-befuddling-222014372.html" }, { "claim": "Schuyler Moore, U.S. Central Command's Chief Technology Officer, confirmed that placing tires on aircraft disrupts computer vision models' ability to identify the aircraft as targets.", "source_url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-covering-aircraft-tires-befuddling-222014372.html" }, { "claim": "Moore stated that computer vision models have difficulty identifying aircraft as planes when tires are placed on top of wings, demonstrating a weakness in image-matching AI systems.", "source_url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-covering-aircraft-tires-befuddling-222014372.html" } ] }
What happened
Russian military began covering aircraft including Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers and Su-34 jets with tires at Engels-2 Air Base and other locations starting in fall 2023.
A U.S. Central Command Chief Technology Officer confirmed the tactic was designed to confuse image-matching seekers on incoming AI-guided munitions by disrupting computer vision model identification of aircraft.
Index analysis
Computer vision models used in image-matching missile seekers have difficulty identifying aircraft when tires are placed on wings and fuselage, according to the U.S. military official.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.