AI beat human pilot in a dogfight, US Air Force says

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced in an update on Thursday that an AI-controlled jet defeated a human pilot during an in-air dogfight test last year.

Last year, an artificial intelligence-powered self-driving fighter jet engaged a human pilot in a dogfight over California for the first time. This event marked a notable milestone in the Pentagon's attempt to integrate AI securely into its platforms.

During the tests, the AI agents "performed well" in various scenarios, said Lt. Col. Ryan Hefron, program manager for ACE, the Air Combat Evolution program developed by DARPA.

“We had many test objectives that we were trying to achieve in that first round of tests. So, asking the question of, I'll say, who won? It doesn't necessarily capture the nuance of the testing that we accomplished. But I will say that the test's purpose was to establish a pathway to demonstrate that we can safely test these AI agents in a safety critical air combat environment,” Hefron said.

This week, DARPA revealed that during a September test at Edwards Air Force Base, an X-62A VISTA aircraft, an F-16 fighter jet modified to test and train AI software, engaged in a dogfight with a human pilot in another F-16. The agency develops trusted "combat autonomy" through human-machine collaborative dogfighting as part of the DARPA ACE program.

During the September dogfighting test, an AI agent operated the F-16 in various offensive and defensive combat scenarios while two human pilots remained in the autonomous fighter jet for safety reasons. 

Regarding national security concerns, officials kept from sharing the success rate of AI in dogfights assisted by AI.

AI pilots learn fast

Col. James Valpiani, Air Force test pilot school commander, added that the testing has revealed how rapidly AI agents can advance.

“We were able to upload the software changes to the aircraft while it was holding short, ready to take off, and even airborne, we’re able to transition between multiple versions of the same AI agent airborne between combat sets, and this is a paradigm change to how software development happens in industry and certainly in the aviation industry today,” Valpiani said. 

More AI-supported autonomous combat maneuver tests are going to be conducted by the program over the year.

Source: Newsroom