AI technology will be applied to the U.S. Air Force, and future air battlefields may be different from traditional ones
The current U.S. Air Force models are aging and smaller, at least compared to the air forces of the emerging powers of the East, and the advantages are getting smaller, but the Americans do not seem to be worried. Because they are considering applying artificial intelligence technology to drones in order to gain advantages in air combat.
Now the U.S. Air Force is experimenting with the unmanned XQ-58A Valkyrie, which, unlike ordinary drones, has advanced AI technology applied to it.
UAVs equipped with AI technology can undertake reconnaissance, surveillance, strike and other combat missions, and operate together with manned fighters. For example, it is used as a wingman for F-35 fighters.
There are many benefits to having AI-loaded drones act alongside manned warplanes:
One is that it is cheap. Taking the current American fifth-generation aircraft F-35A as an example, its price is about $70 million, while the unit price of drones loaded with AI technology is only 1/20, only a few million dollars; Attack UAVs can also be made cheaper.
Second, dangerous tasks can be performed. For example, it is possible to risk destroying ground-based anti-aircraft missile positions, etc., and it is unthinkable to perform similar tasks with manned aircraft.
Third, there is no need to rush to develop sixth-generation aircraft. Because there are drones loaded with AI technology, the gap between the US Air Force and the air forces of other major countries will not be narrowed a lot. Now the Americans simply need to constantly upgrade the fifth-generation F-35 so that it works perfectly with the UAV. After all, the development of a new generation of fighters is too risky, not to mention the huge cost (the development of the F-35 costs trillions of dollars), the development cycle is still long, and the risk of failure is also large.
What will the sixth-generation aircraft of the future look like? Now no one can tell.
But experts believe that the future sixth-generation aircraft is not just a fighter, it is a combat system. It includes combat units such as manned aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, drone swarms, active fighter fleets, cruise missiles, etc.
In this comparison, the UAV loaded with AI technology is paired with the existing fifth-generation aircraft F-35 in the United States, and it seems to have the taste of the future sixth-generation aircraft. So, from this perspective, it makes sense that Americans are less anxious, but the effect remains to be seen.
