Artificial intelligence - the best pilot for the Pentagon

The US Air Force wants to purchase 2,000 XQ-58A Valkyrie fighter jets that would be piloted by Artificial Intelligence, according to the press from New York, Washington and London (The New York Times, The Times, Business Insider) which states that the $5.8 billion deal is meant to ensure the US will dominate the airspace, especially since autonomous aircraft are ideal for completing missions and protecting pilots. However, non-governmental organizations in the field of human rights protection argue that the release of technology to kill people crosses the line of morality.

"It crosses the line of morality by outsourcing killing to machines, allowing computer sensors, rather than humans, to take human life," Mary Wareham, the arms advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, told The Times.

Other opponents of AI weapons, such as the Future of Life Institute, call these advances "slaughterbots" because algorithmic weapons decision-making enables faster combat, which can increase threats of rapid conflict escalation and unpredictability, as well as risk to create weapons of mass destruction.

Cited sources show UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said as early as 2019 that "machines with the power and discretion to take lives without human involvement are politically unacceptable, morally repugnant and should be banned by law international".

Opposition from some civil society representatives is not stopping the US Air Force from asking Congress for support to build these fighter jets, which it says are ideal for near-suicide missions from which a human pilot is unlikely to return. US military experts want such a prototype to be tested in a scenario by the end of this year in which it would create its own strategy to track and kill a target in the Gulf of Mexico, The Times reported.

Business Insider states that this Valkyrie model can cruise at 550 miles per hour (885 kilometers per hour). Its operational altitude is 45,000 feet (13,716 meters), with a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,556 kilometers). According to the website of Kratos Defense, the designer and manufacturer of this type of aircraft, the XQ-58 Valkyrie is an unmanned aerial combat vehicle. "Representing a no-cost tactical UAS, the XQ-58A changes the paradigm of tactical drone technology, offering a combination of long range, high speed and maneuverability, along with the ability to deliver a combination of lethal weapons. The fact that it can take off and land on any terrain configuration and the extreme range provides maximum operational flexibility and utility for the air force," the quoted source said.

The planes would be built over the next five years and the start of production comes after several years of test flights by the Air Force in which the aircraft were used as data links for the F-22, F-35 and the Skyborg program, which is an artificial intelligence enabled system to control unmanned aircraft.

Journalists at The Times claim that each plane will cost between $3 million and $25 million, far less than a piloted plane.

Until they have unmanned, AI-driven fighter jets, the US military benefits from another acquisition. The US Navy recently awarded a $2.7 billion contract to Sikorsky to build and deliver an additional 35 CH-53K helicopters, eight of which are destined for the Israeli Air Force. It is the largest contract ever concluded for this type of apparatus that can perform a multitude of missions.

"This contract for 35 CH-53K helicopters balances Sikorsky's domestic US supply base, streamlines production augmentation and provides the US Marine Corps with innovative 21st century technologies," said Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo. .

The deal includes 27 aircraft for the US Marine Corps and 8 helicopters for Israel.

The CH-53K, a multi-mission aircraft, will support Israel's special operations programs and provide the Israel Defense Forces with a complete platform that means more speed and safety, more survivability and the capability to support all missions , including troop and cargo transport, as well as search and rescue.

The US Navy declared series production for the CH-53K program in December 2022. It is expected to increase production to more than 20 helicopters per year in the coming period.