In the battle of artificial intelligence versus a human fighter pilot, it wasn't even close. The artificial intelligence algorithm, developed by Heron Systems, swept a human F-16 pilot in a simulated dogfight 5-0 in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's AlphaDogfight Trials on Aug. 20. The company beat out seven other companies before going head to head with "Banger," a pilot from the District of Columbia Air National Guard and a recent graduate of the Air Force Weapons School's F-16 Weapons Instructor Course. The pilot, whose full name was not provided, is an operational fighter pilot with more than 2,000 hours in the F-16. Banger and Heron Systems' AI fought in five different basic fighter maneuver scenarios with the simulated fight only using the Fighting Falcon's guns, and each time the AI was able to out maneuver and take out Banger.

A small Maryland company took first place in last week's AlphaDogfight Trials Final event, a three-day competition designed to demonstrate advanced algorithms capable of performing simulated, within-visual-range air combat maneuvering – commonly known as a dogfight. Heron Systems' F-16 AI agent defeated seven other companies' F-16 AI agents and then went on to dominate the main event – a series of simulated dogfights against an experienced Air Force F-16 pilot – winning 5-0 through aggressive and precise maneuvers the human pilot couldn't outmatch. "The AlphaDogfight Trials were a phenomenal success, accomplishing exactly what we'd set out to do," said Col. Dan "Animal" Javorsek, program manager in DARPA's Strategic Technology Office. "The goal was to earn the respect of a fighter pilot – and ultimately the broader fighter pilot community – by demonstrating that an AI agent can quickly and effectively learn basic fighter maneuvers and successfully employ them in a simulated dogfight." The trials were designed to energize and expand a base of AI developers for DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program.

An event pitting an AI-controlled fighter plane against a human pilot in a virtual dogfight was recently held, with the end result that the AI managed to defeat its human opponent, adding another example of AIs outclassing humans at even extraordinarily complex tasks. As reported by DefenseOne, the recent virtual dogfight was orchestrated by the US military as part of an ongoing effort to demonstrate the capability of autonomous agents to defeat aircraft in dogfights, a project called the AlphaDogFight challenge. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) chose eight teams of AIs developed by various defense contractors, and pitted these AI teams against each other in virtual dogfights. The winner of this tournament was an AI developed by Heron Systems, and afterward the AI was pitted against a human pilot who wore a VR helmet and sat in a flight simulator. The AI reportedly won all five rounds it played.

Heron Systems fielded an artificial intelligence system that managed Thursday to not only outgun a top current U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and weapons school graduate, but to score a flawless victory against its human opponent, winning all five dogfighting engagements in the culmination of a two-year Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency competition. "It's a giant leap," said Lt. Col. Justin "Glock" Mock, another weapons school graduate who also co-hosted the livestream. The DARPA program, known as the AlphaDogfight Trials, was designed to "demonstrate the feasibility of developing effective, intelligent autonomous agents capable of defeating adversary aircraft in a dogfight." In other words, if this were the movie Top Gun, Maverick and Goose would have just been smoked by an unmanned drone in head-to-head combat, five times in a row. Perhaps most impressive is the timeline under which teams rapidly developed their systems.

It's official: The robots are taking over. But in a significant development on August 20, an artificial intelligence (AI) program managed to defeat a human F-16 pilot in simulated dogfights. The AI program, designed by tech firm Heron Systems, was pitched against the human pilot in an environment resembling an elaborate video game during the third and final event of the AlphaDogfight trials organized by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Heron System's website notes that the program was based on deep reinforcement learning – an AI technique that combines insights from behavioral psychology with how the human cortex is structured and functions – along with unspecified innovations. The bested human operator, publicly known only by their callsign, "Banger," was reported to have been trained at the Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

WASHINGTON: In a 5 to 0 sweep, an AI'pilot' developed by Heron Systems beat one of the Air Force's top F-16 fighter pilots in DARPA's simulated aerial dogfight contest today. "It's a giant leap," said DARPA's Justin (call sign "Glock") Mock, who served as a commentator on the trials. AI still has a long way to go before the Air Force pilots would be ready to hand over the stick to an artificial intelligence during combat, DARPA officials said during today's live broadcast of the AlphaDogfight trials. But the three-day trials show that AI systems can credibly maneuver an aircraft in a simple, one-on-one combat scenario and shoot its forward guns in a classic, WWII-style dogfight. On the other hand, they said, it was an impressive showing by an AI agent after only a year of development.

The never-ending saga of machines outperforming humans has a new chapter. An AI algorithm has again beaten a human fighter pilot in a virtual dogfight. The contest was the finale of the U.S. military's AlphaDogfight challenge, an effort to "demonstrate the feasibility of developing effective, intelligent autonomous agents capable of defeating adversary aircraft in a dogfight. Last August, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA, selected eight teams ranging from large, traditional defense contractors like Lockheed Martin to small groups like Heron Systems to compete in a series of trials in November and January. In the final, on Thursday, Heron Systems emerged as the victor against the seven other teams after two days of old school dogfights, going after each other using nose-aimed guns only. Heron then faced off against a human fighter pilot sitting in a simulator and wearing a virtual reality helmet, and won five rounds to zero. The other winner in Thursday's event was deep reinforcement learning, wherein artificial intelligence algorithms get to try out a task in a virtual environment over and over again, sometimes very quickly, until they develop something like understanding. Deep reinforcement played a key role in Heron System's agent, as well as Lockheed Martin's, the second runner up. Matt Tarascio, vice president of artificial intelligence, and Lee Ritholtz, director and chief architect of artificial intelligence, from Lockheed Martin told Defense One that trying to get an algorithm to perform well in air combat is very different than teaching software simply "to fly," or maintain a particular direction, altitude, and speed. Software will begin with a complete lack of understanding about even very basic flight tasks, explained Ritholtz, putting it at a disadvantage against any human, at first. "You don't have to teach a human [that] it shouldn't crash into the ground… They have basic instincts that the algorithm doesn't have," in terms of training. "That means dying a lot.

The final round of DARPA's AlphaDogfight Trial is complete, and once again, the winning AI pilot celebrated its victory against a field of virtual contenders by going on to defeat a human F-16 pilot. An AI pilot developed by Heron Systems won the shootout, defeating a fellow AI from Lockheed. All of the simulated fighter battles were restricted to allow use of the nose cannon only, and after the AI vs. AI matches, an anonymous human pilot entered the competition, wearing a VR helmet. The Heron Systems AI defeated him 5 - 0, although he was able to change tactics and survive significantly longer in the final round. Commentators noted the AI's "superhuman" aiming ability produced an edge even as the simulated F-16s circled low to the ground at high speed and would've experienced extreme G forces.