U.S. Air Force leaders recently revealed new advancements in artificial intelligence-powered drones that could “be a revolution” amid concerns of a potential future conflict with China.
CBS News reported that Major Florida’s Englin Air Force Base is currently the training ground for a new type of air force that will be used in the U.S. military. Trent McMullen, a U.S. fighter pilot who flies alongside the XQ-58 drone at Eglin Air Force Base, told CBS News that he has “flown safety chase on it for several missions, messaging back and forth with the autonomy on board.”
“As humans, we fly very smooth, but it can roll and fly a little bit snappier than maybe a human pilot would,” McMullen said. “It could be a little bit rougher a ride, but there’s no human on board.”
McMullen explained that the XQ-58 drone is equipped with artificial intelligence that has been trained on “some of the basic blocking and tackling of air combat,” which human pilots are typically trained on.
According to CBS News, General Adrian Spain, the head of Air Combat Command, is developing plans for artificial intelligence to pilot drones alongside traditional manned aircraft in the U.S. Air Force. Spain explained that the artificial intelligence-powered drones are capable of executing attacks on a “complex set of targets.”
Spain told CBS News that if the U.S. military continues to make advancements through its artificial intelligence drone programs, “it has the potential to be a revolution.”
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“The Air Force was so good for so long that it didn’t need to change. Now it needs to change, and it’s trying to figure out how,” retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote told CBS News.
Hinote warned that a potential conflict with China would require artificial intelligence-powered drones to continue to advance to give the United States a better advantage.
“If we have to fight China, we’re likely doing it in their front yard, and that means they can bring many, many more things to bear than we can, because it’s so far away,” Hinote stated. You’re having to achieve kill ratios of 10 to 1, 15 to 1, and 20 to 1 to even stay in the game.”
The retired Air Force lieutenant general suggested that the Air Force could use artificial intelligence-powered drones to try to compensate for a numbers disadvantage in a potential overseas conflict with China.
According to CBS News, the Air Force’s new artificial intelligence-powered drones cost roughly $20 to $30 million, which is roughly a quarter of the cost of similar manned fighter jets.
“You could buy more airplanes, put them in the field, and still not break the bank,” Hinote told CBS News. “The key would be that you don’t have to bring the human operator home; you actually can take more risk.”
