Feb 15, 2023 11:00:00

DARPA announces that F-16 fighter equipped with AI succeeded in flight test with autonomous control

On February 13, 2023

, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the F-16 fighter, which was modified to include AI, had successfully completed a flight test under autonomous control. bottom.

ACE Program's AI Agents Transition from Simulation to Live Flight
https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-13

AI Has Successfully Piloted a US F-16 Fighter Jet, DARPA Says
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zakb/ai-has-successfully-piloted-a-us-f-16-fighter-jet-darpa-says

AI algorithms pilot fly F-16 fighter jet autonomously • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/14/ai_air_force_f16/

Flight testing of the AI-equipped F-16 was conducted as part of the Air Combat Evolution of Fighters (ACE) project initiated by DARPA in 2019. AI algorithms are in charge of flying fighter planes and assisting in air combat, allowing pilots to focus on strategy and weapon launch. It is believed that this will revolutionize the traditional aerial combat.

In August 2020, AI reportedly defeated an experienced real US Air Force F-16 pilot in a virtual dogfight in a simulator.

AI's fighter pilot wins a human veteran naval pilot in a simulated battle, what is the point that AI is superior to humans? -GIGAZINE

Therefore, as part of the AI algorithm test under development, DARPA will conduct a flight test of an F-16-based fighter called 'VISTA (variable in-flight simulator test aircraft)' with modifications such as installing AI in December 2022. went to the moon

The F-16 used in the test has built-in sensors that track the pilot's physiological response during flight. According to DARPA, by analyzing the data from the pilot's sensor associated with AI's autonomous control, it is possible to grasp two scenarios when the pilot trusts AI and when he does not trust it.

“We conducted a number of sorties, including takeoffs and landings, flying multiple points and testing a variety of hypothetical targets,” said Ryan Hefron, DARPA's ACE project manager. says. 'We didn't encounter any major issues in this test, but there were some differences when compared to the simulation results. However, VISTA learns from failures much faster than other aircraft. And we were able to improve,” he said.

As a result of the test, DARPA announced that 'this flight test demonstrated that AI can control a full-scale fighter and provided valuable live flight data.'

DARPA plans to test VISTA later in 2023.