Saab, Helsing pit AI-piloted plane against real fighter pilot

Sweden's Saab and German defence start-up Helsing have conducted combat testing of a Gripen E warplane flown by AI against a real fighter pilot, they said yesterday, in a step forward in European efforts to compete on autonomy in defence.

- TIM HEPHER

Last week's trial is the first publicly known instance of artificial intelligence being tested in a warplane beyond visual range rather than in a close-range dogfight, or that AI has controlled a fully fledged jet rather than a test plane.

In May last year, then-US Air Force secretary Frank Kendall flew in a modified F-16 called X-62A Vista fitted with machine learning supplied by Shield AI to demonstrate the ability of AI to enter aerial battle with a crewed F-16.

The European trials, known as “Project Beyond”, included three flights carried out between May 28 and June 3, the last of which pitted Helsing’s “Centaur” AI agent piloting a Gripen E against a human-operated Gripen D fighter jet, the companies said.