An air combat test conducted by the US Air Force last year marked the first time an AI-controlled fighter jet successfully faced off against a human pilot.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has revealed that experiments with artificial intelligence (AI) applications will begin in December 2022 as part of its Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, The Verge reports. Reported.
We worked to develop an AI system that allows fighter jets to fly autonomously while adhering to U.S. Air Force safety protocols.
The U.S. Air Force has released a video of a test pitting an AI-controlled F-16 fighter against a manned F-16.
The U.S. Air Force deployed a human pilot in an AI-controlled fighter jet tagged X-62A with controls to disable the AI system, but DARPA said the pilot would use a safety switch at no point. He said there was no need.
According to DARPA, the X-62A faced off against a manned F-16. The two planes engaged in a nose-to-head battle, a video of which was released.
However, it was not revealed which fighter won the dogfight.
“Aerial combat was a problem that needed to be solved so that we could begin testing autonomous artificial intelligence systems in the air,” Bill Gray, chief test pilot at the Air Force Test Pilot School, said in a statement. “All the lessons we're learning apply to any task we can give an autonomous system.”
DARPA has installed an artificial intelligence (AI) system on the X-62A aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base in California, which was tested in dogfights against humans in September 2023.
A total of 21 test flights have been conducted so far, and DARPA announced that testing will continue until 2024.
