Artificial intelligence at the helm of a fighter jet: the US Air Force has reported a successful test of the F-16-based X-62A VISTA unmanned aircraft

The armies of the world's most progressive countries have long been trying to integrate artificial intelligence into their systems, and in many cases it has been successfully implemented.

But what the US Air Force is announcing could be a revolution in unmanned aviation.

Here's What We Know

Journalists from NBC and the Associated Press reported that they got a chance to observe an experimental flight of the X-62A VISTA aircraft based on the F-16 fighter jet.

In the cockpit was the commander of the U.S. Air Force Frank Kendall, but the aircraft was controlled by an artificial intelligence.

The hour-long flight simulated the conditions of a real air battle, and the AI's opponent was a pilot with extensive second-aircraft experience.

After the test was completed, the Air Force commander stated that he had seen enough to entrust AI with the control of combat aircraft.

The plan is to have more than 1,000 frictionless fighter jets by 2028.

AP reports that the introduction of AI into combat aviation could be the biggest technological breakthrough for that branch of the military since the first stealth aircraft were created. However, weapons experts and human rights activists are concerned that AI will eventually be able to launch missiles at targets without human orders, but General Campbell assures that the actions of such systems will always be clearly controlled by a command centre and they will not be able to make the decision to attack on their own.

Source: Associated Press