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A modified autonomous F-16 fighter jet running on AI software was pitted against human pilots in air-to-air combat tests for the first time.
The U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been developing AI dogfighting capabilities for years under its Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program.
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Previously, all experiments testing its autonomous flight algorithms against manned aircraft had been conducted virtually. In 2020, the software defeated a human pilot over a series of dogfights in a flight simulator. Now, the technology has advanced enough to operate in the real world.
The autonomous fighter, named X-62A VISTA, was flown with two pilots aboard to monitor the autonomous aircraft as it practiced aerial combat maneuvers against another manned F-16 jet, getting as close as 2,000 feet at 1,200 miles per hour.
In a media briefing, Col. James Valpiani, Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, said that he couldn’t comment on whether Real life Maverick or his nemesis, the Drone Ranger, won.
DARPA is working with several groups across academia and industry to build the software.
The U.S. military believes that air defense will evolve from one-on-one dogfights to a pilot commanding a fleet of autonomous aircraft in the future. The Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall is set to fly the X-62A VISTA to test its capabilities soon.