Future airplane flocks would require a trained corps of pilots who intimately know their aircraft and their partners’ flying habits. Drone flocks would be a different task, however. Drones are not as smart as pilots, and cannot tell what other aircraft will do. But the military would like to change that.

The main goal would be allowing drones to integrate with piloted planes for takeoff and landing. Drones would be able to link up with air traffic controllers and consult a database of airport procedures, and use algorithms to understand what other aircraft will do.

This proposal solicitation outlines the Air Force’s desires: unmanned aerial systems that can analyze airfield maps and air traffic control data, just like pilots do. They would use cameras to watch other aircraft and use this “intent data” to remove ambiguity.

“The developed algorithm(s), optimally, would require no more a priori information than a human pilot,” the Air Force says.