Two F-16 jets will each support an F-35 fighter.
© APA/AFP/FADEL SENNA / FADEL SENNA
Die F-16 fighter jets the US Air Force have been since 1978 in use and have been continuously improved over the past decades. In the future, the iconic “Fighting Falcon” be used as an autonomous drone. There are already plans for this.
Das Projekt Viper Experimentation and Next-Generation Operations Model (VENOM) provides that converted autonomous F-16 fighter jets as air support of a manned F-35 Jets should be available. So you could in triple formations fly with 2 drones each, which are used as a “power multiplier”.
Air Force wants to develop autonomous flight software
The Air Force is not averse to the idea and wants it 1,000 pieces of the autonomous Viper – the nickname of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Before deploying such a squadron, however, it is necessary to develop autonomous software that can control the jet better than a human could. The basis for the software comes with the experimental aircraft X-62A VIEW used, which is very similar to an F-16.
The aim of the project is to initially convert 6 existing F-16 fighter jets into autonomous drones. In the Cockpit However, there will still be a person who can intervene in an emergency. As a budget are for the time being 50 million dollars (46 million euros) estimated. In the next 5 years, the investments in the project should increase $120 million (110 million euros).
Bridge between man and machine
In an interview, the Air Force chief scientist describes Victoria Coleman the project as a “bridge between fully autonomous armed forces and fully manned armed forces”. According to Coleman, the fighter jets would first be launched by pilots and then the software would be switched on in the air.
“Self-driving cars didn’t go from a manual to a fully automated variant all at once either,” says Coleman. Instead would have electric vehicles Millions and billions of kilometers traveled to train the autonomous functions. The Air Force should do the same.
Most of Project Venom’s budget will go into research and development of the autonomous systems, with $2.5 million set aside for outside company acquisitions. total are 118 jobs earmarked to get the project off the ground.
