Autonomous F-16 Fighters Are ‘Roughly Even’ With Human Pilots Said Air Force Chief

The future loyal wingmen of the United States Air Force are inching closer to becoming a reality, and more importantly, the artificial intelligence (AI) controlled aircraft could be on track to be as good as any human pilot. That was the assessment from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who recently took flight in an autonomously-controlled X62A VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft), a modified F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The aircraft, which incorporates AI and machine learning...