Inside the Navy’s Upcoming “Terminator” AI Fighter Jets
The exact extent of the plane’s autonomous capabilities remains unknown, but it is likely to be far more significant than any weapons system to date.
Scenes from the sci-fi movie The Terminator could very well be on the horizon as the U.S. Air Force is getting ready to test autonomous flying fighter jets.
Part of a cutting-edge initiative to increase the number of combat aircraft in its fleet, the Air Force’s autonomous flying program is getting ready for take-off.
The Navy’s Autonomous F-16 Fighting Falcons
In April, three F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to take part in the “Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model—Autonomy Flying Testbed” program (VENOM-AFT).
In total, the Air Force is planning on converting six F-16s to autonomous aircraft to test the viability of the project.
“The VENOM program marks a pivotal chapter in the advancement of aerial combat capabilities. This transformative program holds the potential to redefine air combat paradigms by fostering novel autonomous functions for current and future crewed and uncrewed platforms,” Air Force Maj. Ross Elder, the VENOM developmental test lead, said in a press release. “We look forward to the culmination of years of engineering and collaboration, as VENOM leads a measured step towards a new age of aviation.”
During the testing, human pilots will be in the cockpits to monitor the autonomous software and ensure that the artificial intelligence system is working as intended and properly responds to its queues.
“Having both developmental test and operational test pilots working and flying from the same location allows for daily collaboration and reduces the stove piping of knowledge and lessons learned,” Air Force Lt. Col. Jeremy Castor, VENOM operational test lead, said.
The Air Force has already tested artificial intelligence in simulated air-to-air combat, and it has proven to be highly successful.
“It’s important to understand the ‘human-on-the-loop’ aspect of this type of testing, meaning that a pilot will be involved in the autonomy in real time and maintain the ability to start and stop specific algorithms,” Air Force Lt. Col. Joe Gagnon, the commanding officer of the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, told reporters. “There will never be a time where the VENOM aircraft will solely ‘fly by itself’ without a human component.”
The Long History of Unmanned Aircraft
To be sure, unmanned aerial systems are hardly new. The U.S. military and intelligence community pioneered the use of drones for precision strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. They have also used these drones for more lethal purposes. In particular, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pioneered the use of drones for use against terrorist groups during America’s twenty-year war on terror, killing thousands of low- and mid-level Al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives across the Middle East and Western Asia.
In more recent years, drone technology has proliferated to poorer militaries, as well as non-state actors. Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 was largely attributed to its more successful use of drone technology. And in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, both the Ukrainian and Russian forces have made prolific use of drones.
However, there is a key difference between autonomous flying and unmanned aerial systems. Most drones still rely on remote human interaction: they still have a ‘pilot’ in the literal sense. For instance, when a Ukrainian infantryman launches a Switchblade 300 suicide drone, he retains control over it until it reaches the target. Similarly, an American soldier at a base in Colorado can control an MQ-9 Reaper drone loitering in the Middle East, many thousands of miles away.
On the other hand, autonomous flying utilizes cutting-edge artificial intelligence that does the flying without any direct human interaction. Much like sci-fi movies and novels, the fighter jet will be flying on its own, following directions and mission objectives set up by humans. The exact extent of the plane’s autonomous capabilities remains unknown, but it is likely to be far more significant than any weapons system to date.
Although the Air Force is still exploring the complicated aspects of autonomous flying with the F-16 fighter jet, the program can offer the U.S. military unparalleled combat capabilities and help it prevail in a near-peer conflict in the future.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Shutterstock / Ali_Cobanoglu.