An AI-controlled fighter jet took the Air Force leader for a historic ride

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With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of U.S. airpower. But the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence, not a human pilot. And riding in the front seat was Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.

AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning for an AI-enabled fleet of more than 1,000 unmanned warplanes, the first of them operating by 2028.

A 1,000 AI controlled fighter jets, starting in less than 3 years from now? Sounds to me like much of our fleet will just get upgraded from pilot operated to AI operated. I don't think we can actually build that many new jets in such a short time, but I could be wrong.

The AI-controlled F-16, called Vista, flew Kendall in lightning-fast maneuvers at more than 550 miles an hour that put pressure on his body at five times the force of gravity. It went nearly nose to nose with a second human-piloted F-16 as both aircraft raced within 1,000 feet of each other, twisting and looping to try force their opponent into vulnerable positions.

At the end of the hourlong flight, Kendall climbed out of the cockpit grinning. He said he’d seen enough during his flight that he’d trust this still-learning AI with the ability to decide whether or not to launch weapons in war.

This is incredible news and puts us far, far ahead of any other nation when it comes to such technology. While China is beginning to test AI powered systems in simulators, no one has carried out real world testing. Other nations, including Russia, are trailing even China, which means they are likely to be years, or even decades behind us.

Vista’s military operators say no other country in the world has an AI jet like it, where the software first learns on millions of data points in a simulator, then tests its conclusions during actual flights. That real-world performance data is then put back into the simulator where the AI then processes it to learn more.

China has AI, but there’s no indication it has found a way to run tests outside a simulator. And, like a junior officer first learning tactics, some lessons can only be learned in the air, Vista’s test pilots said.

Way to go USAF, there's some interesting and good news to start off my day! The US military being the strongest force on the planet does make me sleep easier at night, sure... but knowing we are making such strides, and stretching our advantage even more... that's just icing on the cake. For us, and for our allies.

originally posted by: Mahogani
that's just icing on the cake.

Unless you're a pilot and you lose your job. Then they won't even be able to afford cake to put the icing onto.

Why don't they just replace all workers with AI? Who wants to have to pay employees anyway? It's those pesky humans that are sucking up all the payroll dollars. Nobody needs to work to support their families.



/sarcasm

With the cost of new advanced aircraft rising and also not wanting to put pilots at risk at the fore front of a battle zone, the abilty to send one manned aircraft with a whole squadron of almost disposable AI controlled wingmen to portect and scout for him sounds like a dream come true.
I know that all the next generation fighters from the US and it's close allies are all researching having AI controlled wingmen, but it does seem everyone is having to play catch up to the USA airforce.

a reply to: Station27

The pilots will be needed in the gen 5 and 6 fighters/bombers as well as the myriad of other platforms which don't go behind or near enemy lines. Then targeting data can be sent to unmanned platforms to carry out strikes which have a chance to lose the platform...don't want to lose pilots and it opens up more dangerous missions as an option.

a reply to: Mahogani

The first of them in 2028. They haven’t even selected the final contractor for the first batch of CCA. And they aren’t replacing anything. The CCA will be an unmanned force multiplier and will fly along with manned aircraft. They’ll be used for SEAD/DEAD, and to hit heavily defended targets.

a reply to: Station27

These aren’t replacing anything. The AI will control CCA platforms, which will fly with manned platforms and be used to assist them with attacking targets that manned aircraft may be too high risk to hit.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
These aren’t replacing anything.

Can I get your guarantee on that?

SkyNet

2nd

a reply to: Station27

Yes. The CCA program isn’t a replacement for anything. It’s a force multiplier, that we can afford to see shot down without worrying about a pilot. They’re going to fly under the control of a manned platform like either the F-35 or B-21, which will direct them to their target. The AI, which isn’t technically AI but is group think, will determine which platform will attack, which platform will support, and what weapons and tactics will be used.

a reply to: Mahogani

But could most of the current fleet be retro fitted with the AI modules?
That would eliminate the need for a full 1000 factory made jets.

So, now they will have jets in the air that can be hacked or even AI scrambled by external frequencies that can neutralize the computers. I think having real pilots is more rational myself. In a simulated dog fight, sure it might work, but often the opponent will do something different than they are trained to, this could mess up AI. Plus a burst of energy could short out the sensors of the jet and eventually our adversaries will figure out how to do that, probably before we actually get the first twenty jets built with that technology.

I can see a limited number of those jets being built, but I think relying on technology too much is stupid.

a reply to: rickymouse

It’s not going to be that easy to hack them, or short their sensors.

👍👍

Great find, thank you for sharing!

Liability not to have it.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: rickymouse

It’s not going to be that easy to hack them, or short their sensors.

The idea is likely inevitable, but technology is always changing. AI will certainly be the future of aviation though. But how fast will "their" AI compromise it? We're entering a new world. Everyone is afraid of what might come, and rightly so. I'm curious as to how any sensitive programs are truly safe from hackers and spies in an increasingly borderless western world.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to see the guy had the balls to do a ride along. I'm glad everything went well. Interesting stuff happening quickly.

a reply to: Mahogani

We'll be ahead until some traitor in our defense logistics chain (or similar organization) sells the tech to the Russians or Chinese.

Cheers

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: rickymouse

It’s not going to be that easy to hack them, or short their sensors.

All an opposing jet would need is a two second impulse to disrupt the jet's AI for a half minute which would give that other craft time to launch a missile to destroy it. Most electronics have built in overload protection to temporarily turn them off and reset. thirty seconds would be plenty of time to destroy a jet with disabled sensors. A person is usually uneffected, and even if the Jets sensors are temporily disabled, the person could react. I am sure that Our military has thought of this to be able to shoot down a rivals jets already. If there was no built in safeguards that shut things down, the circuitry would fry.

Our government and others already have these kind of weapons to disable missiles ability to strike. They are using those impulse cannons and laser weapons in the middle east presently. Now, if the Jet had a pilot that was alert and watching, he/she could fill in that pause by manually taking over. The sensors need to be on the outside of the jet, which means a surface charge from an impulse would necessitate shutting them down.

I do not know if the military scientific people have found a way to fix this issue, I am sure that there are experts knowing more than I do that could have figured a way of stopping this, but knowing how easy it is for a defense contractor to fool people who are not experts, I am guessing that this susceptibility still exists. They will attempt to fix the issue after they make three hundred jets probably, saying they were unaware of the issue. It is the same type of issue with a solar flare taking down power stations and blowing transformers. We cannot see or feel that solar flare.

a reply to: rickymouse

Oh really? So it only works against unmanned aircraft does it? If it’s so effective why doesn’t it work against every aircraft, and any enemy can simply wipe out every plane we have in a couple of days. And why is it that our bases in the Middle East are still being hit by missiles and drones?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: rickymouse

Oh really? So it only works against unmanned aircraft does it? If it’s so effective why doesn’t it work against every aircraft, and any enemy can simply wipe out every plane we have in a couple of days. And why is it that our bases in the Middle East are still being hit by missiles and drones?

I would think you would already know the technology that the US has. It doesn't do much against a jet manned by a person onboard, maybe just a short disruption of sensors, but the pilot has eyes and a way of controlling the jet manually independent of sensors...he/she can see a missile leaving the other jet. The navy used some of this stuff to disrupt missiles in the gulf. They missed their targets

I looked into how this works after reading some of your posts here on ATS. Although I only got general information on how it worked, I did find out how it basically works. I assumed you knew more than I did about this stuff. Do our AI jets have protection against this built in?

So Zaph, do you think these "AI wingmen" will be regular aircraft models, or will special aircraft be developed that are (maybe) less expensive but comparable in capability ?

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

They’re speciality UAVs. General Atomics is using a variant of their Gambit. Anduril is offering their Fury. The Air Force will select one in the next couple of years after they have a fly off.