TECH NEWS – The United States, through the research arm of its Department of Defense, has tested autonomous artificial intelligence using F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets.

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has played a major role in the creation of many modern technologies, including computers and the Internet, and is now testing autonomous artificial intelligence. Matt Turek, deputy director of the agency’s Office of Information and Innovation, detailed how DARPA is keeping up with artificial intelligence through several of its programs at an event at the country’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. DARPA partnered with NASA to launch the world’s first nuclear-powered rocket into space, with the goal of using the technology to significantly reduce interstellar travel time.

Turek revealed that 70% of the agency’s programs use some level of artificial intelligence, machine learning, or autonomy. In addition to OpenAI and Microsoft, DARPA has also partnered with Google and Amazon’s AI partner Anthropic, and talked about how they have used generative AI to find and eliminate vulnerabilities in open source software…but the relevant topic for us is the F-16 program. This aircraft is the backbone of the U.S. Air Force: light, maneuverable, and internationally popular.

These fighter-bombers are called QF-16 and are based on modified frames of the older F-16 aircraft. The first of these aircraft flew in 2012, followed a year later by a remotely piloted flight in which the pilot performed pre-flight checks and then closed the cockpit from the outside to hand over control of the aircraft to an operator. The program provided pilots with targets similar to fourth- and 4.5-generation aircraft, and the Air Force replaced it in 2022 when it solicited applications for a targeted drone program that could mimic fifth-generation stealth aircraft. Although the first remotely piloted QF-16 flew in 2013, pilots had to wait until 2017 to shoot down the first drone on a combat target during a training exercise.

A video of the program was also made.

Source: WCCFTech