Air Force Requests $6 Billion for AI-Powered Drone Fleet
The F-22 and F-35, two highly advanced and capable military machines, are among America’s most powerful weapons. However, they come with a hefty price tag of $143 million and $75 million respectively. In light of China’s increasing conventional weapon procurement efforts, the Pentagon has unveiled a program aimed at bolstering America’s drone production capabilities. As part of this initiative, the United States Air Force has requested nearly $6 billion in federal funding over the next five years to develop a fleet of XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned aircraft, each costing a relatively affordable $3 million.
The Valkyrie comes from Kratos Defense & Security Solutions as part of the USAF’s Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) program. The 30-foot unmanned aircraft weighs 2,500 pounds without fuel and can carry up to 1,200 pounds of ordinance. The XQ-58 is built as a stealth escort aircraft to fly in support of the F-22 and F-35 during combat missions, although the USAF envisions the aircraft fulfilling a variety of roles by tailoring its instruments and weapons to each mission. These could include surveillance and maintenance operations and swarming enemy aircraft in active combat.
Earlier this month, Kratos successfully operated the XQ-58 during a three-hour demonstration at Elgin Air Force Base. “AACO [Autonomous Air Combat Operations Team] has taken a multi-pronged approach to unmanned flight testing of machine learning AI and has achieved operational trial objectives using a combination of high-performance computing, modeling and simulation, and hardware loop testing to train an AI agent to safely fly the XQ-58 unmanned aircraft,” Dr. Terry Wilson , AACO’s program manager, said in a press release at the time.
“It’s a very strange feeling,” USAF test pilot Maj. Ross Elder told the New York Times. “I’m flying off the wing of something that makes its own decisions. And it’s not a human brain.” The USAF has been quick to point out that drones remain strictly under the control of human pilots and commanders.
The Air Force took heat in June when Col. Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton “misspoke” at a press conference and suggested that AI could possibly be induced to launch its operators, though the Defense Department dismissed the possibility as more of a “hypothetical thought exercise.” like “simulation”.
“All Air Force drones are designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate human judgment in the use of force,” a Pentagon spokesperson told NYT. Congress must approve the DoD budget for the next fiscal year before construction can begin. The XQ-58 program will require an initial investment of $3.3 billion in 2024 if approved.
