The US Air Force Is Moving Fast on AI-Piloted Fighter Jets

On the morning of December 1, 2022, a modified F-16 fighter jet codenamed VISTA X-62A took off from Edwards Air Force Base, roughly 60 miles north of Los Angeles. Over the course of a short test flight, the VISTA engaged in advanced fighter maneuver drills, including simulated aerial dogfights, before landing successfully back at base. While this may sound like business as usual for the US's premier pilot training school--or like scenes lifted straight from Top Gun: Maverick--it was not a fighter pilot at the controls but, for the first time on a tactical aircraft, a sophisticated AI. Overseen by the US Department of Defense, VISTA X-62A undertook 12 AI-led test flights between December 1 and 16, totaling more than 17 hours of autonomous flight time. The breakthrough comes as part of a drive by the United States Air Force Vanguard to develop unmanned combat aerial vehicles.