Under the scorching midday sun, an experimental F-16 fighter jet—famous for its distinctive roar—lifted off. What followed, however, was a first in aerial combat: this F-16 was piloted by AI, not a human. Then there came Frank Kendall, the secretary of the air force, riding shotgun.
The Air Force has taken a strong stance on artificial intelligence (AI), which is seen as a major advancement in military aviation since stealth was introduced in the early 1990s. Despite the fact that the technology is still in its early stages, the service is already making plans to deploy over a thousand unmanned warplanes equipped with artificial intelligence. The first of these planes will be operational by 2028.
The dogfight was appropriately held at Edwards Air Force Base, a massive desert complex where the military has nurtured its most top-secret aeronautical innovations and where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound. A new breed of test pilots is conditioning artificial intelligence agents to fly combat missions within secret simulators and facilities with multiple levels of surveillance shielding. Kendall made a public declaration of faith in AI’s future involvement in air warfare by traveling here to witness AI fly in real time.
“Not having it poses a security concern. “We absolutely must have it,” Kendall told The Associated Press upon his arrival. Due to operational security considerations, the secret flight could only be witnessed by the AP and NBC, who were instructed not to report it until it had landed.
Vista, the F-16 piloted by artificial intelligence, took Kendall on a series of daring manoeuvres at speeds of over 550 miles per hour, subjecting him to forces five times stronger than gravity. It raced to within a thousand feet of another F-16 controlled by a human, practically nose-to-nose as the two planes twisted and looped to try to catch each other off guard.
After the one-hour flight, Kendall emerged from the cockpit with a smile on his face. His flight experience had convinced him to entrust this AI, which is still learning, with the decision-making power to initiate military action.
Many people are against that proposal. Humanitarian organizations and specialists on arms control are worried that AI could one day detonate bombs without human intervention, therefore they are pushing for stricter regulations on the technology.
“Seconds and software should not be trusted with decisions that could have a profound impact on human lives,” the International Committee of the Red Cross has said. An immediate, international political response is required in light of the fact that autonomous weapons “are an immediate cause of concern.”
When it comes to the employment of weaponry, Kendall assured everyone that there will always be human monitoring.
Concerns about safety, expense, and strategic capability are pushing the military toward AI-enabled aircraft. The current Air Force fleet of costly, crewed fighters, for instance, would be at a disadvantage in the event of a confrontation between the United States and China due to advancements in electronic warfare, space, and air defense systems on both sides. Along with rapidly increasing numbers, China’s air force is also gathering a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles.
In hypothetical future conflicts, the United States may launch swarms of unmanned aircraft to launch an advance attack on enemy defenses, allowing them to breach hostile airspace with little to no risk to pilot lives. Money is also a driving factor in the change. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which the Air Force is still dealing with, has cost an estimated $1.7 trillion and has been plagued by production delays and overruns.
Kendall stated that smaller, less expensive unmanned aircraft operated by AI are the future.
According to Vista’s military operators, no other nation possesses an AI jet of its kind. The software learns from millions of data points in a simulator before putting its findings to the test during real flights. Afterwards, the simulator receives the real-world performance data, which the AI uses to gain further knowledge.
Even though China has artificial intelligence, it doesn’t seem to have figured out how to test it in the real world. According to Vista’s test pilots, there are certain things that can only be learnt in the air, much like a rookie officer learning tactics.
According to chief test pilot Bill Gray, “it’s all guesswork” until actual flight is taken. “The more time you spend on that, the longer it will be before you have systems that are really helpful.”
Since September 2023, when Vista conducted its first AI-controlled dogfight, only approximately twenty such flights have taken place. However, the algorithms are becoming better with each encounter; in fact, some AI versions being tested on Vista are currently outperforming human pilots in air-to-air combat.
The pilots stationed here are cognizant of the fact that they might be inadvertently preparing their successors or influencing a future structure that requires less of them.
However, they also state that, in the absence of their own fleet, they would not want to be airborne against an enemy using AI-controlled aircraft.
“We must go with our sprint. Further, Kendall emphasized that we must move swiftly.