Artificial Intelligence, Arms Race | Here is America’s first fighter plane with artificial intelligence – will have 1,000 self-thinking aircraft in a few years

The head of the US Air Force, Frank Kandell, was this week on a test trip with the US’s first fighter plane that is controlled by artificial intelligence.

For now, the technology is housed in a modified F-16 fighter that has been named the X-62A . The autonomous aircraft performed lightning-fast maneuvers over Edwards Air Force Base in California. The trip took place approximately one week after the US had conducted the first close combat between an AI-controlled aircraft and a manually controlled aircraft.

It had happened at a speed of over 1,900 kilometers per hour, and where the planes had been less than 600 meters apart, writes Sky News.

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Will let it decide on weapons

The -controlled aircraft have been trained with historical data to make decisions in the air. The AI ​​programs are not new in the US. Already in 2020, artificial intelligence beat American fighter pilots in close combat in simulators. Now these programs are installed in real planes and given control over real flight missions.

Things went a little calmer for him when Air Force Commander Kandell was on board the AI-controlled VISTA before the weekend, but he was still very impressed.

– It would be a security risk not to have them. At this point, we have to have it, Kendall said after the flight. He was so impressed with the artificial intelligence that he will trust the technology to decide whether to use weapons or not.

-plane in 2028

The pilots working with VISTA hope that the first planes controlled by artificial intelligence will be ready in 2028. The hope is to have over 1,000 such planes in a few years. With AI-controlled aircraft, the US will be able to carry out attacks in hostile airspace without risking their own lives. Unlike drones, these aircraft do not need contact with an operations center to function.

These planes will also be far cheaper, and the US needs it after spending large sums on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, writes Sky News. It is this aircraft that Norway has purchased.

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China is also working on developing autonomous fighter jets, but it is not known that the Chinese have tested these programs outside of flight simulators.

The use of artificial intelligence on the battlefield has already caused international unrest. The Israelis have acknowledged that they use artificial intelligence to select bomb targets in the Gaza Strip, and critics believe that it is dangerous to remove the human factor from such decisions.

Among others, the Red Cross has warned that it is very dangerous to entrust decisions about life and death to sensors and computer programs.