During a test flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California in December 2021, a special Lockheed Martin fighter jet trainer known as the VISTA X-62A became the first tactical aircraft to be operated by artificial intelligence.

Modern combat aircraft's lengthy development times are one of many irritating issues. The F-35 Lightning II took 20 years to develop compared to the legendary Supermarine Spitfire's three years, and the first ones delivered are already out of date despite order backlogs.

Another issue is preparing pilots to operate high-performance aircraft under various conditions. Due to the exorbitant expenses associated with producing and maintaining fighter aircraft today's air forces are much smaller than they once were, making it difficult to set aside enough of these flying thoroughbreds for training.

The advancement of artificial intelligence has given engineers a tool that can accomplish two tasks at once. The US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards uses the Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft (VISTA), developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works secret research facility in cooperation with Calspan Corporation, to model the flying characteristics of various aircraft. It also entails being independent.

The VISTA X-62A is an upgraded F-16D Block 30 Peace Marble Il that has Block 40 avionics installed in it. It was given the initial designation of NF-16D, but in June 2021, it was recognized as a US national asset and renamed the X-62A.

The VISTA X-62A may have garish colors and an F-16-like appearance, but inside its stressed aluminum alloy skin are some really cutting-edge capabilities. Calspan's VISTA Simulation System (VSS) and Lockheed Martin's Model Following Algorithm (MFA) and System for Autonomous Control of the Simulation are two of the most notable (SACS).

Together, the latter two provide the airplane with additional capabilities that transform it into a flying autonomous system and artificial intelligence testbed. The Enterprise Mission Computer version 2 (EMC2), also known as the Einstein Box, is meant to let older systems join together for the exchange of data across all On the SACS system, domains are governed via the Enterprise-wide Open Systems Architecture (E-OSA) from Skunk Works. Additionally, Getac tablet screens and advanced sensors are used in the cockpit's front and aft sections, respectively.

The VISTA X-62A, according to Lockheed, not only has better capabilities, but it can also manage quick software modifications for rapid prototyping to speed up development and increase the number of test flights.

When the inspection of the VISTA X-62A is complete, the flight will resume.

According to Dr. M. Christopher Cotting, head of research at the US Air Force Test Pilot School, "VISTA will enable us to parallelize the development and testing of cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques with new uncrewed vehicle designs." This strategy, together with targeted testing of new vehicle systems as they are developed, will enable us to quickly develop autonomy for uncrewed platforms and provide our warfighters with capabilities that are tactically important.

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