The US Air Force wants 1000 slave drones for joint work with fighters of the sixth and fifth generations. To prepare for their creation, the service wants to experiment by turning F-16 Fighting Falcons into drones.

What is known

The US Air Force has requested $50 million for fiscal year 2024 (FY) for a program called the Viper Experimenting and Next-gen Operations Model, or Profect VENOM, to put it simply. The new project involves the transformation of six fourth-generation aircraft into drones. To do this, they will receive special software.

The software will be able to control the aircraft without the participation of the pilot. Project VENOM will allow the US Air Force to test in practice how effective such systems can be in the air and what benefits they will bring.

In the initial stages, the pilot will be in the cockpit and, if necessary, will be able to take control. The US Air Force has drawn a parallel with Tesla’s self-driving cars that have traveled millions of miles, but until now, when the autopilot is activated, the driver is forbidden to take his hands off the wheel and go about his business during the trip.

The US Air Force intends to develop the program for several years. The service wants to invest $17-19 million annually in Project VENOM between FY2025 and FY2028. This means that the total cost of the program will reach $120 million over 5 years.

Project VENOM will be a transitional step towards the creation of joint combat drones. They are developed under the program Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The US Air Force wants to get 1000 drones for the sixth generation fighter (200 units) and F-35 Lightning II (300 units), i.e. the pilot of each aircraft will fly two drones.

Note that the Pentagon is already developing a project in which the F-16 flies without human intervention. Recently artificial intelligence flew a modified F-16 aircraft within 17 hours.

Source: Defense News