Lockheed Martin's famously secretive Skunk Works has demonstrated a human controller flying an L-39 Albatros jet controlling a pair of old L-29 Delfin jets being flown with artificial intelligence (AI). These L-29 Delfin jets were acting as surrogate drones to engage simulated enemy fighters. The demonstration is part of the United States Air Force's quest to develop and field some 1,000 loyal wingman drones called Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
This comes as Simple Flying has reported that optionally manned jets are likely the future of US military aviation and that the distinction between manned and unmanned is being blurred. Skunk Work's new AI-driven loyal wingman combat Skunk Works said , " An airborne battle manager issued real-time commands to AI-controlled aircraft through a touchscreen pilot vehicle interface (PVI) ." The airborne battle manager was the pilot onboard the L-39 Albatros, who assigned targets to the AI-controlled L-29 Delfin jets.
These then worked together to " defeat two mock enemy jets using simulated mission systems and weapons ." The demonstration was carried out with the help of the University of Iowa's Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL). The OPL has 11 instrumented aircraft (six manned and five unmanned) - including L-29 jets - along with six flight simulators.
"These flight tests build on previous experiments demonstrating AI-controlled air-to-ground jamming and geolocation. This year, the tests shifted to AI in air-to-air combat, where AI se.
