At Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the Air Force is testing AI-piloted drones that fly with fighter jets. Major Trent McMullen flies next to the XQ-58 and trades messages with its onboard autonomy. He said the drone flies snappier than a human, and there is no one on board.
Training AI for air combat
AI systems are now learning tasks such as intercepting an adversary aircraft. McMullen said they teach the basics of air combat that new human pilots also learn. The XQ-58 blasts off like a rocket, and a full-scale model used a runway for the first time in August.
General Adrian Spain, who leads Air Combat Command, is planning how to pair AI drones with manned aircraft. He said they can go out front and attack complex targets, and they could carry weapons. An AI-piloted F-16 has held its own in a limited dogfight against an experienced pilot.
Other F-16s are being rewired to use a plug-and-play AI system. A pilot stays in the cockpit as a safety pilot and can take control. McMullen said they will send real pilots to try to outsmart the AI in test flights.
Costs, numbers, and risk
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote called this a needed change. He said war games against China at 20 to 1 odds do not turn out well. AI drones could help by handling more data and making faster choices in combat.
AI drones will be about half the length of a manned fighter and one-quarter the cost, at $20 to 30 million each. Hinote said you can buy more aircraft and take more risk because no human is on board. Spain said the Air Force expects 150 AI-piloted aircraft by the end of the decade, and later up to 1,000.
Who makes lethal decisions
Spain said humans will make life-and-death decisions, not the AI. He warned that AI can be fooled, overwhelmed, or hallucinate, so speed is not a guarantee of success. Hinote said militaries will face pressure to give machines more leeway, and the U.S. is investing in tests of platforms that could fire if given that option.
Pilots keep flying test missions and simulations to build trust. McMullen said that for future threats, he would send an uncrewed asset into high-risk areas rather than a human pilot.
According to CBS News, these tests at Eglin mark a push to create a new kind of air force.
