The U.S. Department of Defense is actively conducting field tests of a new AI-powered battle management system codenamed Starsage. According to defense publications like The Defense Post on August 28, 2025, Starsage is not an autonomous weapon but a decision-support system for commanders. Its function is to process vast streams of data from various sources (satellites, drones, sensors) in real-time, identify threats, predict enemy actions, and recommend optimal courses of action. The programs goal is to radically accelerate the decision-making cycle (OODA loop) in complex and rapidly changing combat environments. Although the system maintains a "human-in-the-loop" principle, meaning the final decision rests with the commander, the testing of Starsage has sparked a new wave of debate. Experts are discussing the risks of "automation bias" (where humans begin to blindly trust the machine) and the ethical questions surrounding the delegation of analysis to AI that could lead to lethal outcomes.
Pentagon Tests "AI Battle Manager" Starsage
