When you were younger, you probably thought that in a decade, you would witness flying cars but that didn’t happen! Instead, now you have automatic cars that function through Artificial Intelligence that make driving a piece of cake, and countless possibilities for the future. Artificial Intelligence has expanded and has broken barriers in the world of social media where there is facial recognition just like in your phones when you unlock it through face ID.
Since AI has advanced to great extents, it has also made its place in other areas like warfare technology. Now, the U.S. air force is looking to upgrade its sixth-generation aircraft to go completely human-free.
Setting The Trend
The United States of America’s Air Force is working to get AI systems for its sixth-generation fighter aircraft. However, before this vision becomes reality, the aerospace industry will have a lot of work to do. Frank Kendall, Secretary of the Air Force, has proposed this idea for the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program as a deal for crewed and uncrewed systems. It is important to note that the collaborative combat aircraft program will not be funded until 2024. Regardless, the higher-ups are working to enhance their autonomous capabilities to further expand the possibilities and the potential for manned teaming and artificial Intelligence.
The Future Of The Air Force
For this system, there are set criteria that have to be met before the system is finalized, such as autonomy, which is the number 1 priority, strong, and unbreakable communication links, and the ability to freely transport. Gen. Mark Kelly, commander of Combat Air Command, states that the future of aircraft is going to be AI, but there is still a lot of information that is new to people and will most probably come to the surface when the work begins. It is reported that operational tests for collaborative combat aircraft will start in the next 2 to 3 years.
It is the ADAIR-UX program that is currently working on AI-piloted aircraft with the help of General Atomics to aid the fighter jets to not only train against but also to raise awareness surrounding the difficulty of facing AI since students who are studying at weapons schools have to practice against the enemy and make a decision in a split-second. He also connects it to the Sputnik moment of cultural change when the F-22 and F-35s came in range and how it changed the game, given the fact that it was a tough challenge to overcome.
In just a matter of a few years, the USA will fund this project to incorporate AI into its aircraft system. Could this be a breakthrough in science or the start of another cold war?
