A model flies a fighter against a live pilot
On 17 April 2024 DARPA made public the result of its Air Combat Evolution programme: the X-62A VISTA, under algorithmic control, fought within-visual-range engagements against a human-piloted F-16. The flights ran from December 2022 to September 2023.
Why it matters
The first confirmed case of a trained model flying a combat aircraft in manoeuvring combat against a person, outside a simulator. The difference from the earlier DARPA records in the atlas is fundamental: before, the agency paid for research; here it flew the aircraft.
DARPA's own wording: "DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program has achieved the first-ever in-air tests of AI algorithms autonomously flying an F-16 against a human-piloted F-16 in within-visual-range combat scenarios." The X-62A VISTA is a modified F-16; testing took place at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. The DARPA page carries no figures; reporting the same day does. The tests ran from December 2022 to September 2023 across 21 flights. Safety pilots were aboard the autonomous aircraft but did not have to use the switches during the engagements. Lt. Col. Maryann Karlen described the build-up: "we actually took the X-62 and flew it against a live manned F-16. We built up in safety using the maneuvers — first defensive, then offensive, then high aspect nose-to-nose engagements where we got as close as 2,000 feet at 1,200 miles per hour." Secretary Frank Kendall: "The X-62A team demonstrated that cutting-edge machine learning based autonomy could be safely used to fly dynamic combat maneuvers." Performers included Calspan, Cubic, EpiSci, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, physicsAI, Shield AI, the University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and MIT CSAIL and Lincoln Laboratory.