By Olawale Abaire, Warrior Editorial Fellow
In a groundbreaking event, an experimental jet, the X-62A VISTA, engaged in a simulated aerial duel with an F-16, marking the first instance of an AI-driven dogfight, as reported by the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This successful trial could pave the way for the Air Force to refine its strategy for autonomous drone wingmen, known as collaborative combat aircraft.
The X-62A VISTA, an acronym for Variable In-flight Simulator Aircraft, is a heavily modified F-16. For over three decades, this aircraft has been instrumental in testing advanced aerospace technology, with recent years seeing a focus on autonomous flight capabilities. DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program has spent the past four years honing the military’s use of AI in air warfare and fostering airmen’s trust in autonomous technology’s ability to perform safely and reliably in combat scenarios.
Until now, autonomy has been utilized for predictable flight aspects governed by a set of known rules, such as the Auto Ground Collision Avoidance System that prevents jets like the F-35 from crashing. However, within-visual range dogfighting, arguably the most dangerous and unpredictable form of flight a pilot can engage in, presents a new skill set for AI to master, according to Col. James Valpiani, commandant of the Air Force Test Pilot School.
The ACE program initially had AI agents control simulated F-16s in computerized dogfights. These AI-operated simulated F-16s achieved a five-for-five victory against human pilots, as per a video posted online by DARPA. However, these AI agents were not yet trained to adhere to safety guidelines and ethical requirements such as combat training rules and weapons engagement zones.
At the Lockheed Martin F-35 Production Facility
In December 2022 and April 2023, the Air Force and DARPA commenced actual flight tests with AI agents piloting VISTA. By September 2023, VISTA was ready to face off against a human pilot. Over a two-week period, VISTA competed against an F-16 in various scenarios, including situations where it started at a disadvantage against the human-operated jet.
Initially, VISTA flew defensively to establish confidence in its flight safety before transitioning to intense offensive maneuvers. The jets flew aggressively at speeds of up to 1,200 miles per hour and within 2,000 feet of each other, executing nose-to-nose passes and vertical maneuvering.
Two pilots were present in VISTA’s cockpit to monitor its systems and switch between different AI agents to assess their performance, but they never had to assume control of the aircraft. VISTA completed 21 test flights between December 2022 and September 2023.
Lt. Col. Ryan Hefron, DARPA’s ACE program manager, and Valpiani reported that the AI-operated VISTA performed well and tested a variety of agents with multiple different capabilities. However, they did not disclose how many times VISTA defeated the human-operated F-16. The program plans to conduct more VISTA-versus-F-16 matches to refine the technology and test different scenarios. They did not comment on whether the ACE program’s dogfighting effort might eventually result in a future fighter fleet without pilots in the cockpit, stating that such “long-range vision” questions are better suited for Air Force leadership.
The lessons learned from ACE could be applied to more than just dogfighting. ACE will enable the service to create uncrewed Collaorative Combat Aircrafts (CCAs) that can autonomously fly alongside crewed fighters such as F-35s and the Next-Generation Air Dominance platform, carrying out missions such as airstrikes and reconnaissance operations.
OLAWALE ABAIRE is a Warrior researcher, writer and analyst who has written many published nonfiction books
