Among the myriad technological developments in airpower—including advanced propulsion, better stealth, directed-energy weapons and hypersonics—perhaps the most important will turn out to be artificial intelligence. AI has the potential to transform air combat operations and the way airpower is conceived and used.
The US Air Force demonstrated the role of AI dramatically in December last year by flying a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, which normally carries a single crew member, with an AI algorithm as a ‘virtual backseater’. As the pilot flew, the AI system—dubbed ‘ARTUµ’ in honour of Star Wars robot R2-D2—controlled the aircraft’s sensors and navigation.




The artificial intelligence ‘backseater’ in future air combat | The Strategist (aspistrategist.org.au)