{"id":20305,"date":"2020-09-09T20:07:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T20:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/09\/dod-to-pit-ai-vs-human-pilots-in-live-fighter-trials-by-2024\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:05:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:05:35","slug":"dod-to-pit-ai-vs-human-pilots-in-live-fighter-trials-by-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/artificial-intelligence\/2020\/09\/09\/dod-to-pit-ai-vs-human-pilots-in-live-fighter-trials-by-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon to pit AI against human pilots in live fighter trials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Wednesday that the Pentagon intends to conduct live trials pitting tactical aircraft controlled by artificial intelligence against human pilots in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/artificial-intelligence\/2020\/08\/21\/ai-algorithm-defeats-human-fighter-pilot-in-simulated-dogfight\/\">comes three weeks<\/a> after an AI algorithm defeated a human pilot in a simulated dogfight between F-16s, something Esper described as an example of the \u201ctectonic impact of machine learning\u201d for the Defense Department\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe AI agent\u2019s resounding victory <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/it-networks\/2020\/08\/07\/a-human-f-16-pilot-will-fight-against-ai-in-an-upcoming-contest\/\" target=_blank>demonstrated the ability<\/a> of advanced algorithms to outperform humans in virtual dogfights. These simulations will culminate in a real-world competition involving full-scale tactical aircraft in 2024,\u201d Esper said in prepared remarks delivered to the department\u2019s Artificial Intelligence Symposium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Aug. 20 test was the finale of the Pentagon research agency\u2019s AI air combat competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The algorithm, developed by Heron Systems, easily defeated the fighter pilot in all five rounds that capped off a yearlong competition hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Heron\u2019s AI system gained notoriety throughout the competition for its aggressiveness and the accuracy of its shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the system wasn\u2019t perfect. Heron often made an error in basic fighter maneuvers by turning away from enemy aircraft to where the AI thought the other aircraft would go. It was then unable to recover throughout the fights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are a lot caveats and disclaimers to add in here,\u201d Col. Dan Javorsek, program manager in DARPA\u2019s Strategic Technology Office, said after the test, including that the AI had significant information that might not be available in an actual combat scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Military officials have long eyed the potential for AI to control aircraft, whether as part of a \u201cloyal wingman\u201d setup where a number of systems are controlled by one pilot, or through taking existing systems and making them optionally manned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Still, the Defense Department is likely years away from AI-controlled fighters seeing combat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":51943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":6,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","pentagon-congress","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"10":{"categories":["daily-news-roundup","newsletters","techwatch","pentagon","air"],"primary_category":"techwatch"}}},"categories":[6,106,29,32],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222,3252],"class_list":["post-20305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PL2YULTDTFF2PPP4YD4TKJX5GQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/artificial-intelligence\/2020\/09\/09\/dod-to-pit-ai-vs-human-pilots-in-live-fighter-trials-by-2024\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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