Featured USAF turning old F-16s into pilotless AI-powered fighters QF-16s

[Amavous]

The US Air Force is turning old F-16s into pilotless AI-powered fighters
Unmanned QF-16s could be used to fly decoy routes to distract from a manned aircraft operating in stealth mode

By AMIT KATWALA Saturday 27 June 2020

Maverick’s days are numbered. The long-awaited sequel to Top Gun is due to hit cinemas in December, but the virtuoso fighter pilots at its heart could soon be a thing of the past. The trustworthy wingman will soon be replaced by artificial intelligence, built into a drone, or an existing fighter jet with no one in the cockpit.

Since 2010, the US Air Force and Boeing’s QF-16 programme has been converting old F-16 fighter jets into unmanned drones, which can fly preset routes without a pilot. This year, 32 of these autonomous planes – rescued from retirement in the "boneyard" at an Air Force base near Arizona – will be used as targets in weapons testing over the Gulf of Mexico.

At Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, an F-16 undergoes the final stages of its transformation into a QF-16 unmanned drone – including an orange paint job to alert other (human) pilots

QF-16s could be used, for example, to fly decoy routes to distract from a manned aircraft operating in stealth mode. Will Roper, who oversees the Air Force’s research and development arm, has likened the project to R2-D2, the lovable robot from the Star Wars movies who serves as a sort of co-pilot to Luke Skywalker on occasions.

QF-16s are powered by an afterburning turbofan, which is capable of generating supersonic speeds. They could be more manoeuvrable than manned aircraft, which are limited by the level of G-force a pilot can withstand

The original F-16, which came into service in the 1970s, was one of the first aircraft to have an on-board computer to help the pilot. Today, fighter jets are so sensitive and powerful that it’s essentially impossible for them to be flown without some sort of computer assistance, according to Steve Wright, an associate professor in aerospace engineering at the University of the West of England. “The pilot is now performing guidance and navigation,” he says. “The control system has been replaced already.”

The cockpit of a QF-16 is nearly identical to the F-16 – but without a pilot, it no longer needs seat-back cushions, belts and straps

Eventually, Wright thinks it’s inevitable that AI systems will be able to outperform and outmanoeuvre real pilots – planes equipped with an AI will be able to make twists and turns that would be impossible for a human because of the G-force involved. Not having a person in the cockpit will free up engineers to make planes that look radically different, Wright says – we’ve already seen the beginnings of this in the streamlined shape of some autonomous drones. And, if there’s no human involved, they can be a lot cheaper too, because you don’t have to build in many of the safety systems and redundancies required to keep a pilot safe.
But there are ethical questions to unpick – particularly if these autonomous drones are equipped with weapons that can fire without human intervention. “We’ve got the capability,” says Wright. “Do we have the stomach?"

A panel on the side of the QF-16 reveals the additional equipment required to enable the aircraft to be piloted remotely

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/f-16-us-air-force-qf-16

 

[dBSPL]

Eventually, Wright thinks it’s inevitable that AI systems will be able to outperform and outmanoeuvre real pilots – planes equipped with an AI will be able to make twists and turns that would be impossible for a human because of the G-force involved

There is no problem with basic autonomous tasks such as situational awareness, target identification detection and classification, performing air patrol or ground attack tasks in certain coordinates. However, situations like dogfighting or close-range engagement are entirely based on different dynamics and instinctive motorized decision-making processes.

So this is not as easy as it seems. Removing the human factor can have a positive effect on maneuverability. However, it also requires really complex and lengthy deep learning process over tens of thousands of task profile analysis, radar track and pilot reaction-orientation-decision-making database. Certainly, that point will be reached near, but there is still a long way to go.

The main reason why 5th gen aircrafts are classified as a separate generation is that, these aircrafts are actually the first purebred step of M2M operations. So they have a transition process feature.

 

[Aspen]

Long time in the making

Fighter drones are here

 

[KeyBORED Warrior]

So basically we will have oversized RC aircrafts with weapons, nice.

I am guessing we have about 20odd years to permanently settle our disputes with that crybaby neighbour of ours with daddy issues before AI becomes the norm and the advantage that we have over them in terms of kickass pilots is lost.

The ONLY deciding factor between PAF and IAF is the pilots we have.

 

[Meliodas]

Can we experiment on old birds in our boneyard?

 

[Ali_Baba]

Can we experiment on old birds in our boneyard?

No. They are all mechanical aircraft, a lot more difficult to automate. F16s is digital, easier to bolt on a control device to make it do what you want.

 

[Materialistic]

White walkers and Zombies of fighter planes!
Dead metal junk without a human inside.

Better if they had burned the airframes in bone-yard instead of them getting wasted like this.

Though a need, but electric cars and unmanned aircrafts - future sucks!

 

[Nasr]

I have been following military aviation for the last three decades. And I can tell you for certain that America has been working the QF-16s for almost over a decade now. It's not new, been going and they started with the QF-4 Phantoms.

Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, Air Combat Zone and various other magazines have been reporting about this for years now. I'm guessing "Amit Katwala" was in his diapers back then!!

 

[JohnWick]

White walkers and Zombies of fighter planes!
Dead metal junk without a human inside.

Better if they had burned the airframes in bone-yard instead of them getting wasted like this.

Though a need, but electric cars and unmanned aircrafts - future sucks!

Instead sold them to PAF....It is still not less than a treasure for them. @Imran Khan

 

[Philip the Arab]

Long time in the making

Fighter drones are here

These would be great for faking large formations of fighters to trick enemies.

 

[dbc]

A real dog fight between AI and human is scheduled for next year.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

There is no problem with basic autonomous tasks such as situational awareness, target identification detection and classification, performing air patrol or ground attack tasks in certain coordinates. However, situations like dogfighting or close-range engagement are entirely based on different dynamics and instinctive motorized decision-making processes.

So this is not as easy as it seems. Removing the human factor can have a positive effect on maneuverability. However, it also requires really complex and lengthy deep learning process over tens of thousands of task profile analysis, radar track and pilot reaction-orientation-decision-making database. Certainly, that point will be reached near, but there is still a long way to go.

The main reason why 5th gen aircrafts are classified as a separate generation is that, these aircrafts are actually the first purebred step of M2M operations. So they have a transition process feature.

Yeah but what if they have something like DeepMind's AlphaZero (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaZero ) run the official flight simulator software used to train F16 pilots for say a Million hours. You are going to end up with a super human ability to know the exact limits of dogfighting and when the optimal time to pull the trigger.

Edit:Ooops I see dbc says they are doing just that.