AI-Controlled Fighter Jet Dogfighting Proves “Decisive & Intentional”

By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News

Will artificial intelligence turn the stereotypical, swaggering fighter jock into a dinosaur?

Not for a while – if ever. But a couple of recent tests by the US Air Force show that AI will play a bigger role in the cockpit of the future.

Last week, Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works successfully showed how AI could be used in a dogfighting scenario. Lockheed teamed up with the University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Laboratory, using one of the lab’s L-29 Delfin jets in what was called the first live exercise of a new flight interface.

Lockheed says that flew and conducted tactical exercises using heading, speed and altitude commands. Each flight involved eight test cases, such as head-to-head fights and missile support scenarios. The AI was described as “intentional and decisive.”

“Live flight tests are a crucial aspect of advancing our expertise in AI and autonomy,” said Matthew “Gabe” Beard, manager of the Skunk Works’ autonomy/AI and machine learning engineering. “These flights are powerful demonstrations of our ability to quickly and affordably develop and test operationally relevant AI capabilities.”

While there’s talk of autonomy – that is, planes flying on their own –Lockheed was quick to point out that “humans are and will remain on-the-loop, providing final decision-making authority…”

The test in Iowa came a little more than a month after Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall took an historic ride in an F-16 controlled by AI. Kendall flew in the front seat, while a “safety pilot” was in the back – and never touched the controls. The plane reportedly flew over 550 miles an hour and came within a thousand feet of a human-piloted F-16 in a mock dogfight.