Future War: US Air Force Builds Fleet of Over 1,000 AI-Controlled Fighter Jets (Video)

The US Air Force plans to develop a fleet of over 1,000 aircraft controlled by artificial intelligence, because some of them have proven superior to human pilots.

The first AI-piloted planes should be ready by 2028, writes the Associated Press.

An experimental F-16 fighter jet controlled by artificial intelligence was tested the other day at Edwards Air Force Base, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in the front seat.

A new generation of test pilots is now training artificial intelligence to fly in war.

Kendall was at the air base to see the AI-driven planes fly and to make a public statement of confidence in his future role in air combat.

Only the Associated Press and NBC were allowed to witness the secret flight, on the condition that it not be announced until it was completed, for reasons of operational security.

The Vista plane, an F-16 controlled by artificial intelligence, flew with Kendall on board, making lightning maneuvers at more than 885 km/h, a speed that exerted pressure on his body five times greater than the force of gravity.

The Vista flew alongside a second manned F-16 less than 300 meters apart, twisting and looping to force its opponent into vulnerable positions.

At the end of the hour-long flight, Kendall stepped out of the cabin satisfied.

He said he saw enough during the flight that he now trusts AI to decide on its own when to use weapons in war.

There is obviously a lot of opposition to this idea. Gun control experts and humanitarian groups are deeply concerned that AI could one day autonomously drop bombs that kill people, and are now seeking restrictions on its use.

“There are widespread and serious concerns about ceding life and death decisions to sensors and software,” the International Committee of the Red Cross warned.

Autonomous weapons “are an immediate cause for concern and require an urgent international political response.”

Kendall assured, however, that there will always be human oversight of the systems when weapons are used.

But the military’s transition to AI aircraft is driven by cost and strategic capability.

If the US and China were to come to blows, for example, the US fleet of expensive, manned fighter jets would be vulnerable to AI-driven aircraft.

China’s air force is about to outnumber US aircraft. In addition, China is building a fleet of unmanned flying weapons.

War scenarios envision swarms of US drones that can attack enemy defenses to give the US the ability to penetrate an airspace without risking the lives of pilots.

But the change at the US Air Force is also driven by money. The Air Force is still struggling with production delays and skyrocketing costs for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Smaller, cheaper AI-controlled drones are the way forward, Kendall said.

Vista’s military operators say no other country in the world has an AI plane like this, where the software first learns millions of data in a simulator, then tests its conclusions during real flights.

The real-world data is then fed back into the simulator, where the AI ​​processes it.

China also has AI, but there is no indication that they have yet found a way to test it outside of a simulator.

And like a young officer, some lessons can only be learned in the air, Vista’s test pilots said.

Until you’re actually flying, “it’s all guesswork,” said pilot Bill Gray.

Vista first flew in September 2023, and there have been only 24 similar tests since then.

But the programs learn so quickly that some AI versions tested on Vista are already beating human pilots in air-to-air combat.

Pilots are aware that they might train their robotic replacements this way, which would retire them, but they wouldn’t want to be up in the sky against an adversary that has AI-controlled aircraft, and America doesn’t have its own fleet .