Sounds like a very expensive drone

icegreentea2 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yes-ish.

There's a lot of different and overlapping programs in play here. I do not believe that autonomous F-16s are intended to be operational assets. That said...

VENOM - program that shows you can bolt on autonomous flight control into a standard F-16. Previously, the X-62A (a one-off prototype based F-16) demonstrated autonomous dogfighting back in 2023.

VENOM provides USAF/DARPA with a lot of high performance autonomous platforms (bolt-on F-16s) that they can then use to develop and validate software, tactics and training for actually fighting with autonomous systems. This would presumably be critical for getting the most of the CCA (aka loyal wingman) programs currently in development.

The AIR program referenced is basically "how do we get autonomous systems to control and fight effectively as a team (presumably arbitrary mixture of manned and unmanned systems) in a beyond visual range fight".

The ACE program referenced was basically "how do we get autonomous platforms to dogfight" with related questions like "how can we augment the human pilot in a dogfight - ie, how can we hand off the actual flying and execution of manoeuvres, and using all of the sensors to autonomous systems, and let the pilot choose actions, instead of hang flying the actions".

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Eridrus 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm sure there will be a next generation of jet drones that are cheaper, but the autonomy kit here is probably still cheaper than new jet drones.

I think most fully autonomous jet drone programs are also designed to work with a main crewed fighter jet that coordinates them, so there is also a benefit in getting the fighter jet to be able to fly better than a pilot.

	▲	impulser_ 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		They are already building them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anduril_FQ-44 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_FQ-42_Dark_Mer...

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cucumber3732842 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

More like it'll fly itself while the pilot engages in other tasks.

Every pound of weapons officer/navigator is a pound you can't put on target all else being equal.

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jackb4040 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

* You're absolutely right. My altitude is dropping precipitously. Let me check my elevator position to see if that's causing the problem.

* Bash Check elevator position

* Thought for 8s

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wartywhoa23 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"I apologize, that was indeed a wedding party, not a terrorist camp I wrongly assumed. You are totally right, wasting those 3 Hydras was unacceptable. On a brighter side, we've got 39 more to go!

Should I seek another target looking similar to the one I unintentionally destroyed so as to tune my decision-making, or give you an advice on how to wipe the traces of this mishap from the mission data recorder?"

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ErroneousBosh 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

So like some sort of automatic pilot then?

	▲	cucumber3732842 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Conventional autpilot is like a zip tie on the throttle, only it deals in outputs (your actual heading) rather than inputs (pedals and stick) I assume what they're going for here is something substantially smarter and more reactive to changing conditions than that. Something that can be used during the "unscripted" parts of the flight during which a) you're most likely to have multiple crew working hard b) you're most likely to be pushing the limits of what one crew can do.

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throw310822 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Does the presence of humans on board limit the maneuverability of these aircraft in any way? E.g. in terms of acceleration?

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rvba 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Yes. Humans can survive 9g for only a few seconds, while a drone could do much sharper manouvers

	▲	StableAlkyne 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		While they can, drones are still limited by physics. Sure, the aircraft can pull a ton of G's to defeat a missile or achieve a firing solution. Maybe it even succeeded at that. It still pulled 9+ Gs and has burned an incredible amount of kinetic energy doing do. And the harder it pulls, the quicker it bleeds speed. It might not be able to defeat the next missile or outmaneuver the other plane's buddies because it is now slow and very likely outside its optimal turning speed. Even today, missiles can pull dozens of G's yet still are defeatable by humans who can only pull about 9.
	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		But they also have their limits. Bolts and trusses (and solder joints) have tensile strength limits, but it can be higher than what humans can take.

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RIMR 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Drones have human operators. This is a murderbot.

	▲	gjskngnf 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		It’s a drone. That can kill people.
	▲	zajio1am 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		There are already semi-autonomous drones in Ukraine.