That autonomous fighter jet from DARPA is so 2023 that the agency is already well into a bid to give future combat jets autonomy for multi-ship missions over the horizon.

DARPA's Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements ( AIR ) program aims to take what the agency learned during Air Combat Evolution (ACE) trials, which saw AI-piloted F-16 fighter jets engage in dogfights with human pilots, and turn the autonomy up to 11. DARPA hopes it emerges from the AIR program with more AI-equipped F-16 fighters that are tactically autonomous, making them able to operate in multi-ship configurations beyond visual range.

While not as old as the ACE program, AIR isn't new, with its original solicitation published way back in 2022. Today's news pertains to an $11.3 million contract modification quietly aw

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