Air Force Chief Scientist confirms F-35 will include artificial intelligence -- Defense Systems

F-35s, F-22s and other fighter jets will soon use improved artificial intelligence to control nearby drone wingmen that will be able to carry weapons, test enemy air defenses or perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in high risk areas, senior Air Force officials said. "This involves an attempt to have another platform fly alongside a human, perhaps serving as a weapons truck carrying a bunch of missiles," Zacharias said in an interview with Defense Systems. An F-35 computer system, Autonomic Logistics Information System, uses early applications of artificial intelligence that help computers make assessments, go through checklists, organize information and make some decisions by themselves – without needing human intervention. "We are working on making platforms more autonomous with multi-infusion systems and data from across different intel streams," Zacharias explained. ALIS serves as the information infrastructure for the F-35, transmitting aircraft health and maintenance action information to the appropriate users on a globally-distributed network to technicians worldwide, said Lockheed Martin, the contractor that built the system. However, despite the promise of advancing computer technology and increasingly levels of autonomy, Zacharias emphasized that dynamic human cognition is, in many respects, far more capable than computers.