The American agency responsible for the R&D of new technologies for military use, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), announced on April 18 that an AI-controlled jet plane, the X-62A, had succeeded in take on a human pilot in a dogfight test. This test, carried out last September at Edwards Air Force Base in California (United States), is a first success for the US Air Force.
“One of the most important barriers in combat aviation”
Advertisement
“The potential for autonomous air-to-air combat has been imaginable for decades, but the reality has until now remained a distant dream, said Frank Kendall, Secretary of the US Air Force. In 2023, the X-62A broke one of the most important barriers in theaviation of fight. This is a transformative moment.” During the test, human pilots were on board the X-62A, with commands to disable the AI system in case of danger. Darpa, however, says they did not need to use the safety switch.
For this aerial combat, the X-62A, derived from the General Dynamics F16, was opposed to a “classic” F-16, controlled only by humans. Both aircraft began by performing standard defensive maneuvers, before moving on to offensive engagements. The fighter plane approached up to 600 m, at 1900 km/h. “Derial combat was the problem that needed to be solved so that we could start testing autonomous artificial intelligence systems in the air, said Bill Gray, chief pilot at the U.S. Air Force Flight School. Every lesson we learn applies to every task you could give to an autonomous system.”
The United States wants to modernize
Darpa has been working for several years on the design of autonomous systems in military aviation. In 2020, it organized the “AlphaDogFight” competition, which concluded with the clear victory of an AI-powered algorithm against a US Air Force pilot. She began experimenting with AI applications in December 2022, attempting to autonomously pilot a fighter jet while remaining compliant with U.S. Air Force safety protocols. For this air combat, Darpa and the US Air Force do not specify which of the two planes emerged victorious.
Advertisement
Earlier this month, Frank Kendall and the Department of the Air Force's two top military leaders said the United States cannot suffer further budget delays if it wants to compete with the China. An announcement which involves accelerating the deployment of its fleet of 1,000 autonomous combat drones, and improving the aircraft controlled by AI. So far, Darpa has carried out 21 test flights, which will continue this year.
Selected for you