During the test flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California, the Lockheed Martin F-16 special trainer named VISTA X-62A became the first tactical aircraft to be controlled by artificial intelligence.

This can be crucial as new pilots must be trained to fly high performance aircraft in a variety of conditions. Because warplanes are so expensive to manufacture and maintain, today’s air force is much smaller than it used to be.

Thanks to the development of artificial intelligence, engineers now have a vehicle that can do two jobs at the same time. “Variable Flight Simulation Test Aircraft” Created by the secret Lockheed Martin Skunk Works research laboratory in collaboration with Calspan Corporation (VISTA), it is used at the US Air Force Test Pilot School in Edwards to simulate the flight characteristics of various aircraft. It also includes autonomy.

VISTA X-62A is an upgraded F-16D Block 30 Peace Marble II loaded with Block 40 avionics. It was originally called NF-16D, but in June 2021 the US government declared it a national entity and changed its name to X. -62A.

The VISTA X-62A houses highly advanced capabilities inside a reinforced aluminum alloy shell. “VISTA simulation system” from Calspan (VSS) and “Model tracking algorithm” (MFA) from Lockheed Martin and “Autonomous simulation management system” (SACS) are the most notable.

Together they equip the aircraft with new features that turn it into a self-flying system and a place to test artificial intelligence. The “Enterprise Mission Computer” version 2 (EMC2), also known as the “Einstein Box” and designed to allow legacy systems to communicate with each other to exchange data across all domains, is managed by Skunk Works “Enterprise Wide Open”. ” . System Architecture in the SACS system” (E-OSA).