Artificial Intelligence Easily Beats Human Fighter Pilot in DARPA Trial
Aug. 20, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine
In the battle of artificial intelligence versus a human fighter pilot, it wasn’t even close.
The artificial intelligence algorithm, developed by Heron Systems, swept a human F-16 pilot in a simulated dogfight 5-0 in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AlphaDogfight Trials on Aug. 20. The company beat out seven other companies before going head to head with “Banger,†a pilot from the District of Columbia Air National Guard and a recent graduate of the Air Force Weapons School’s F-16 Weapons Instructor Course. The pilot, whose full name was not provided, is an operational fighter pilot with more than 2,000 hours in the F-16.
Banger and Heron Systems’ AI fought in five different basic fighter maneuver scenarios with the simulated fight only using the Fighting Falcon’s guns, and each time the AI was able to out maneuver and take out Banger. The algorithm operated within the limits of the F-16—meaning it did not pull Gs beyond what a real-world aircraft could do. However, Banger said after the event that the jet was not limited by the training and thinking that is engrained in an Air Force pilot.
https://www.airforcemag.com/artificial-intelligence-easily-beats-human-fighter-pilot-in-darpa-trial/
