NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

Does a Fighter Pilot Have to Be Human?

Artificial intelligence proves it can dogfight. What’s next?

A sleek jet aircraft painted red, white, and black flies over an air base in the desert.
The X-62A Variable In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (flying over Edwards Air Force Base in California) is an experimental aircraft derived from the F-16D Fighting Falcon. USAF/Kyle Brasier

Science fiction took another leap toward becoming science fact this past spring, when an aircraft piloted by artificial intelligence (AI) engaged in a dogfight against a human-piloted F-16. 

“The potential for autonomous air-to-air combat has been imaginable for decades, but the reality has remained a distant dream up until now,” said Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. “This is a transformational moment.” 

The unprecedented achievement is the result of a collaboration between the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that has, over the decades, overseen the development of transformative technologies such as the computer mouse, GPS, and even the internet itself. DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution program pitted an X-62A Variable In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA) against an F-16 to begin evaluating autonomous AI systems that could move beyond computer simulations and soar into the air. The scenario harks back to when earlier generations of programmers taught computers to play chess—except now the chess pieces are $60 million aircraft flying at one another at 1,200 mph. The objective of the AI flight exercise wasn’t to explicitly create a robot fighter pilot. Rather, programmers see air-to-air combat as a highly complex problem for an artificial intelligence to solve, pushing machine learning to new limits. The AI team made over 100,000 lines of flight-critical software changes across 21 test flights that began last September, culminating with the successful air-to-air combat demonstration in mid-April. The aerial battle began with defensive maneuvers before switching to offensive nose-to-nose engagements.

The Air Force is planning for an AI-enabled fleet of more than 1,000 unpiloted warplanes, the first of them operating by 2028. But officials stress that there will always be human oversight when weapons are involved. During tests, for example, the X-62A is flown with onboard safety pilots, who have the ability to disengage the AI.

Mark Strauss is Air & Space Quarterly’s managing editor.

This article is from the Summer 2024 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.