The sequel to Top-Gun was set to hit theaters this year, again starring Tom Cruise as the super pilot. A recent experiment by the Pentagon shows that the era of pilot aces is actually coming to an end. In a simulation, one of the Air Force’s top F-16 fighter pilots went up against an artificial intelligence.
In the Alpha Dogfight, a rather old-fashioned dogfight was simulated, in which the skills of the pilots are required. As in World War II, two machines have to use the onboard cannons to get each other out of the sky, and they are not allowed to use long-range missiles. At close range, only those who can outmaneuver the opponent will shoot.
The pilot, nicknamed “Banger”, had to compete against an AI from Heron in five rounds. The comparatively small company is owned by women and has defeated the teams of large defense companies in the qualifying competitions. Hebron only worked on the computer pilot for a year with a manageable budget. Ben Bell, Heron’s leader for the project, said on Youtube. “Even a week before Trial 1 we had agents who couldn’t fly very well at all. We surprisingly turned the tide and since then we’ve really been number one.”
Heron Systems’ AI was aggressive in the simulation. The AI ??pilot was quickly able to get behind the human pilot’s F-16 and shoot him down. However, it is a pure simulation in which not reality, but given parameters exactly predetermine each flight movement. Nevertheless, the result is sobering: In five dogfights, the AI ??effortlessly took the human pilot out of the sky. This is not surprising, as an AI defeated a top pilot in 2016 – this program only required the computing power of a Raspberry Pi for 35 dollars (artificial intelligence brings human fighter pilots out of the sky).
Former pilot instructor Vincent Aiello told Forbes not to read too much into the win. “Humans have been shown to excel in an important area in the fight against AI – they know how to deal with the type of uncertainty that exists in today’s combat operations,” said Aiello. “Combats don’t take place in sterile, static environments. It takes place in 3-D and in real-time where the weather, the opponent and a whole host of other factors come into play.”
In the simulation, on the other hand, everything behaves as programmed – and the AI ??programs, unlike the human opponent, have complete knowledge of these conditions. The AI ??could train almost infinitely on the servers. Ben Bell said his AI ran at least 4 billion simulations. The human pilot, on the other hand, only had five attempts to adjust to the new conditions.
There is also a special feature: the F-16 in the simulation apparently flies differently than a real machine. In the simulation, flight movements were possible that human pilots know cannot be flown in reality. After round four, “Banger” changed his strategy. “The usual things we do as fighter pilots don’t work,” said, forgetting everything he’d learned before and making it a lot harder for the AI.
These trials took place in a program that was redefining the role of the fighter pilot. The actual control of the aircraft will be taken over by the AI, the human being will become the mission commander who, from his machine, coordinates the use of his own jet with that of unmanned drones and also uses weapon systems that are launched from the ground or the sea. Such as the drone Loyal Wingman from Boeing (“Boeing introduces the first combat aircraft without a pilot”).
The success does not mean that the pilots will disappear from the cockpit any time soon, but the result does indicate how little chance human crews will have once artificial intelligence actually pilots an airplane, ship or tank.
Countries that are left behind in this race or do not start at all are outclassed by the leading military powers.
Sources: Forbes, Airforce Mag, eyes straight ahead
Also read:
Artificial intelligence takes human fighter pilots out of the sky
Battle of Britain – when the German Luftwaffe lost air supremacy
The USA and China are leaving Europe behind in the future industry of artificial intelligence
Loyal Wingman – Boeing introduces the first pilotless fighter jet
