The airspace over Washington, D.C., received a substantial security upgrade, which is the first since 9/11. A state-of-the-art upgrade to this system is now underway, after more than 20 years. 

Introducing recognition technology powered by artificial intelligence, the National Capital Region (NCR) is revolutionizing air defense, as Fox News reported.

The National Capital Region, which includes Washington, D.C., is largely protected by an integrated air defense system that was put in place after 9/11 to monitor the sky and protect against airborne threats. There is an improved system of cameras and lasers that keep an eye on it.

System Well Equipped

Both an infrared and an electro-optical visual—akin to what the human eye sees—are available on board each of the new ERSA cameras.

This system, developed by the small tech startup Teleidoscope, is replacing an older one that was put in place in 2002. The previous system had replaced the original cameras that were put in place after 9/11.

Wilburn said the new AI-capable cameras are a vast improvement over the legacy system: "You have an extended range — you can see further. We went from standard definition to high definition. The fidelity is incredible," Wilburn said.

"On the infrared side, you have multiple enhanced features like IR colorization. For example, you could utilize a RGB [red, green, blue] filter to where … the object that we're tracking sticks out via heat signature."

Lasers Are Included

Operators can measure an object's height and distance by shooting an eye-safe laser at it using a laser range finder.

An improved auto-tracking capability with many locking settings is one example of the machine-learning components included into the system.

"The system itself tries to identify what it believes the target to be, and then the operator can assess whether to override it or fine-tune it," Wilburn said. "The more the feature is used, the better it'll get."

Growing Pains Expected

"The camera itself is amazing. We were able to acquire small targets such as a bird flying all kinds of patterns. It locked onto it and held that lock," Wilburn said. "With the legacies [cameras], you'd have a harder time getting the system to do that."

"You can imagine looking at the camera quality on your iPhone from 2011 to today," said Marine Corps Maj. Nicholas Ksiazek, a Defense Innovation Unit project manager involved in the upgrade project. "Instead of trying to hold steady on the airplane … [operators] are able to spend more time on things that are better suited… like trying to think about what the intent is of the aircraft."

One visual warning technique that the cameras incorporate is a laser that can light up an airplane's cockpit.

Aircraft that aren't in radio contact, flying in violation of FAA special flight rules, or not following an assigned flight plan are equipped with the new lasers.