Photo By Airman Hannah Bench | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer, 35th Cargo Deployment Function innovation...... read more read more
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MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan – The 35th Fighter Wing (FW) cargo deployment function (CDF) innovation lab is currently developing a new artificial intelligence (AI) flight scheduling system called “Moneyball” at Misawa Air Base, Japan.
The initiative aims to modernize flight scheduling processes across the U.S. Air Force by introducing predictive, data-driven capabilities that streamline operations, maintenance and resource management.
Previous scheduling relied heavily on historical data and manual input, which could lead to wasted aircraft availability, lost time and increased maintenance conflicts. These legacy methods limited agility and made it harder to respond to changing mission requirements.
“We’re digitizing the insights typically written in an aircrew’s pilot log, enabling rapid identification of recurring inflight issues tied to specific aircraft,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer, 35th CDF Wing innovations noncommissioned officer in charge. “Our intent is not to replace production managers or schedulers, but to empower them with decision-support tools that reduce the burden of data interpretation.”
The Moneyball system uses advanced algorithms and scientific data to rapidly generate optimized flight schedules. It also enables predictive maintenance by matching maintenance crews to the specific needs of each aircraft, reducing downtime and increasing sortie reliability. In early testing, the system processed more than 91 million data points in just 0.13 seconds with a 75% accuracy rate, built from hundreds of trained AI models.
“The ability of our operations groups and maintainers to predict future downtime of an aircraft will be monumental in ensuring the U.S. Air Force remains prepared to execute global missions anytime, anywhere,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Isaac Loring, Pacific Air Forces Project Arc engineer. “All of this is going to save millions of dollars and a lot of scheduling headaches.”
Moneyball is now entering its beta testing phase, with the upcoming Readiness for Operational Resiliency in the Pacific (REFORPAC) exercise serving as the first operational testbed. The system will be evaluated in real-time against live scheduling demands, production workflows and sortie generation.
Following REFORPAC, developers plan to scale Moneyball for use across the entire Department of the Air Force, expanding support to airframes like the U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle, F-22 Raptor and B-1B Lancer.
“Moneyball has the ability to change the whole Department of Defense for the better,” said Loring. “The system will only continue to be refined as AI models improve and our teams continue to work on it.”
Though still in development, Moneyball lays the groundwork for smarter, faster operations across the U.S. Air Force, first at Misawa AB and scaling to meet global demands. Its potential to boost readiness, improve efficiency and empower Airmen supports the PACAF mission, maintaining a strategic advantage across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2025 01:18 |
| Story ID: | 496656 |
| Location: | MISAWA AIR BASE, AOMORI, JP |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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