The Air Force is betting a large part of its future air warfare on a fleet more than 1,000 autonomously operated drones, and later this spring its top civilian leader plans to climb into an artificial intelligence-operated warplane and let it take him airborne.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told senators on Tuesday at a hearing on the service's 2025 budget that he will enter the cockpit of one of the F-16s that the service has converted for drone flight to see for himself how the AI-controlled plane performs in the air.
鈥淭here will be a pilot with me who will just be watching, as I will be, as the autonomous technology works,鈥 Kendall told the Senate Appropriations Committee defense panel members. 鈥淗opefully neither he or I will be needed to fly the airplane.鈥
Drone warfare has quickly expanded from the sidelines of combat to one of its primary weapons. Drones are a daily threat in Ukraine and in the Middle East. In Ukraine, everyday citizens are targeted by Russian drones but also are assembling drones to collect video of Russian positions. In the Middle East, Iranian-backed Houthis and militant groups have regularly employed sophisticated air, sea and underwater drones to target U.S. bases and commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The Air Force began planning for its fleet of collaborative combat aircraft, or CCAs, several years ago, and it envisions a scenario in which one piloted jet will be able to quarterback multiple AI-driven, responsive drones, which the service calls "loyal wingmen."
The service has been tight-lipped on what the fleet of drones will look like in size or platform, whether they will be full-size warplanes or something smaller. Kendall said the converted F-16 test flight will be done for him to observe the technology behind the future fleet.
The fleet is being designed specifically with future warfare, and potentially a conflict with China, in mind. China has rapidly modernized its anti-access capabilities as more sophisticated air defense systems make it risky to send manned crews too close. Drone aircraft could augment the service's ability to breach those defenses, and they are envisioned to provide support in a variety of future missions such as surveillance or jamming.
The Air Force requested US$559 million in the 2025 budget to continue research and development of the future CCA air system.
鈥淭he initial role for the aircraft was going to be counter-air, but it will have the potential to do other things,鈥 Kendall said.
The drone fleet is also expected to be cheaper than developing new manned jets, Kendall said. The current goal is to have each cost about a quarter to a third of what an F-35 fighter costs now, or about US$20 million apiece.
Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 51 people have been killed and another 82 wounded in a large Israeli air and ground operation in the southern city of Khan Younis.
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In a five-part series this week on CTVNews.ca and CTV National News at 11, W5's Avery Haines follows the harrowing journeys of migrants who risk their lives crossing the Darien Gap and ride atop Mexico's notorious 'Train of Death'. In this third installment, Haines travels across the Mexico-U.S. border.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office says her recent comment about chemtrails doesn't mean she believes the United States government is spraying them in the province.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government survived another Conservative-led non-confidence vote on Tuesday, the second in less than a week. This, the same day the Bloc Quebecois had an opportunity to table a non-confidence motion of its own, opting instead to push the Liberals to support one of its key demands.
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Thai police arrested the driver of a bus carrying young students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok, as families arrived in the capital Wednesday to help identify their loved ones.
Police in the Danish capital said two predawn explosions took place Wednesday in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen, prompting the nearby Jewish school to close for the day.
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The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday's arrival of a SpaceX capsule.
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He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people鈥檚 basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
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