Page 3 - Air Combat Evolution News Today

The US Air Force Test Pilot School and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) first started testing a Lockheed Martin X-62A VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulation Test...

The Air Force acknowledged the first successful AI dogfight was carried out by DARPA and test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base as aerospace tech enters the machine learning era.

In the recently disclosed flights, the ACE AI algorithms took control of a specially modified F-16 Fighting Falcon test aircraft designated as the X-62A, or VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft), at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California. The demonstrations of autonomous combat maneuvers began last year.

The "nose-to-nose engagements" saw the dogfighting aircraft get as close as 2,000 feet at 1,200 miles per hour.

The US Air Force has revealed that it carried out its first successful dogfight test involving an AI-controlled jet against a human pilot.

AI Flew X-62 VISTA During Simulated Dogfight Against Manned F-16. While safety pilots were onboard at all times, the AI agent successfully demonstrated it could safely conduct AI versus human within-visual-range engagements.

Software that trounced humans in virtual tests now reportedly able to control an aerial combat F-16 jet

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducted the first-ever in-air tests of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms piloting an F-16 fighter jet autonomously in direct combat scenarios against a human-piloted counterpart, the agency announced in a statement.

The service's top civilian leader will board the back seat of an F-16 later this spring and experience firsthand how the AI technology works.

The U.S. Air Force is advancing its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program by integrating autonomous capabilities into older F-16 Fighting Falcons as part of the VENOM-AFT program.