This was a historical war simulation conducted by an American fighter controlled by artificial intelligence

A few days ago an unprecedented milestone occurred: a fighter jet controlled by artificial intelligence was piloted Frank Kendall, Secretary of the United States Air Force, on a simulation flight at Edwards Base in California, famous for its history of aerospace innovation and classified research. F-16, called LookChallenging another manned F-16 in an exciting dogfight, it demonstrated its ability to maneuver at high speed and with great precision.

Despite concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in military operations, Kendall expressed confidence in its role in future air combat. In fact, although the technology is not yet fully developed, the United States Air Force plans to have a fleet of more than 1,000 unmanned combat aircraft by 2028.

“Not having it is a security risk. “Now, we have to get it”The Secretary of the North American Air Force said in an interview with the agency The Associated Press after landing.

And he added: “It performs very complex tasks using new technologies that involve very powerful computing and advanced mathematics to solve problems that previously could not be solved with computers. Basically, the way we use AI automation is to create the conditions for an intervention, so to speak, and then turn on the automation and let it control the aircraft for a period of time (a minute or two). Let it take control. Then it stops again. And there are a range of safety factors, such as how high we have to be, how far we can get from other aircraft…”

That agency, including the chain nbcobtained permission to observe the secret flight on the condition that it would not be reported until it was finished for operational security reasons.

During the simulation flight, the F-16 performed maneuvers at a speed of more than 880 kilometers per hour. According to what was reported to the press, he had a near-head-on encounter with another manned F-16, with the two aircraft only 300 meters apart from each other, forcing their opponent to slow down. Tried to. Post.

After starring in this milestone in North American aviation, Kendall assures he’s seen a lot Trust the artificial intelligence adopted in this fighter jet.

There is a lot of opposition to that idea. Arms control experts and humanitarian groups are deeply concerned about the possibility that artificial intelligence will one day be able to autonomously drop bombs that kill people without human intervention.

still, North American officials claimed the system would always have human supervision when the weapons were used. He also believes that smaller, cheaper drones controlled by artificial intelligence are the way to go.

Military Vista operators claim that No other country has an artificial intelligence airplane like this one, in which the software first learns from millions of data points in a simulator and then tests its findings during actual flights. Real-world performance data is fed back into the simulator, where the AI ​​processes it to learn more.

China, one of the United States’ biggest concerns, has artificial intelligence, but there is no sign that it has found a way to test it outside of a simulator. The chief test pilot said, “It’s all guesswork (…) and the more time it takes you to figure it out, the more time it will take you to get a useful system.” Bill Grey.

Vista flew its first AI-controlled dogfight in September 2023, and there have been about two dozen similar flights since then. But the programs are learning so fast from each battle that some versions of the AI ​​being tested at Vista are already outperforming human pilots in air-to-air combat.

Pilots at this base know that in some cases they may be training their replacements or shaping a future that will require fewer of them. But they also say that if the US did not have its own fleet, it would not want to take to the skies against an opponent that had AI-controlled aircraft.

“We have to keep moving forward. And we have to move fast.”Kendall commented. And he explained: “The computer is not going to get tired, it is not going to get scared. “It will follow your rules and get the closest to a perfect maneuver, while there will be some variability in how humans perform.”