The US Air Force is working on a drone with elements of AI called Skyborg

SkyNet, of course, is still far away, but the military seems to be striving to create at least something similar to robots with artificial intelligence. Thus, the US Air Force recently announced a new program to work with AI , which was called Skyborg. The results of the project should eventually become flying robots driven by artificial intelligence (its weak form).

Plans are not too long-term - the first drones should go on trials in field conditions already in 2021. The military are going to develop and fighters with similar capabilities - however, they will come out "in circulation" two years later - in 2023.

Drones will "make a decision" very quickly, which is required by the military. Decisions will be made based on the current situation, and the system will analyze many factors.
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As for combat aircraft, the AI ​​will not control them independently, but will help pilots make important decisions. In particular, artificial intelligence will pave the optimal course or recommend performing one or another action.

Even autonomous takeoff and landing will significantly speed up the performance of tasks by human pilots. If you just need to monitor the launch process, and not control, then the person will be able to concentrate on accomplishing the combat mission with greater efficiency.

“I do not think that the first results of our work will look just as cool as in the film. But the current state of affairs in the military will undoubtedly change the project, ”said the representative of the US Air Force.

Skyborg will make possible autonomous take-off, landing and some other functions of the drone. At the same time, the software will be open so that the military, if necessary, can quickly upgrade the system.


One of the tasks that the military set for the developers is to make the program as cheap as possible. Rather, make it less expensive than usual, so that the final product can be made mass.

“I do not want this to be a purely laboratory project that will be born and die in a Petri dish,” says the project manager. “I would like it to be a reliable program. I want to see a demonstration of the capabilities of the system in the field in a couple of years. And I will make sure that everything happens faster. "



Skyborg will not be the first AI system built by the military. Thus, earlier the Navy of America began to develop autonomous drones, which are also able to perform the combat mission independently.

As for the drone aircraft, the military promise to talk about the updates of the project.