DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program 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 (sometimes referred to as “dogfighting”).
In flight, the ACE AI algorithms controlled a specially modified F-16 test aircraft known as the X-62A, or VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft), at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where all demonstrations of autonomous combat maneuvers took place in 2023 and continued in 2024.
