AI enables the US Air Force to develop next-gen robot wingmen

The US Air Force’s XQ-58A Valkyrie drone combines AI with a rocket engine to stealthily destroy enemy targets far beyond its visual range.

The pilotless XQ-58A Valkyrie experimental aircraft of the Air Force, which is controlled by artificial intelligence, is at the forefront of U.S. military efforts to harness the capabilities of an emerging technology, though the vast potential benefits are severely constrained by significant worries about how much autonomy to give a lethal weapon.

The Valkyrie is a prototype for what the Air Force hopes will be a powerful addition to its fleet of conventional fighter jets, providing human pilots with a swarm of highly effective robot wingmen to deploy in battle. The Valkyrie is essentially a next-generation drone. Its goal is to combine artificial intelligence with its sensors to detect and assess enemy threats before moving in for the kill after receiving human approval.

The Valkyrie program offers an insight into how quickly advancing technology is changing the U.S. weapons industry, military culture, combat tactics, and competitiveness with rival nations in potentially significant ways.

A new generation of Pentagon contractors is being created as a result of the development of artificial intelligence. These contractors aim to challenge the few large companies that have long held a monopoly on the supply of aircraft, missiles, tanks, and ships to the armed forces or at the very least disrupt it.

Officials at the Pentagon are able to rethink how to combat enemy forces thanks to the possibility of developing fleets of sophisticated but reasonably priced weapons that could be used in large numbers.