The paper is very vague on the technical details, unfortunately. This appears to be a largely hardcoded logic-based system with some genetic programming (rather than a machine learned system).
>For current mission profiles, ALPHA’s red forces are handicapped with shorter range missiles and a reduced missile payload than the blue opposing forces. ALPHA also does not have airborne warning and control system (AWACS) support providing 360° long range radar coverage of the area; while blue does have AWACS. The aircraft for
both teams are identical in terms of their mechanical performance.
>When Geno took manual control of the blue aircraft against
the reds controlled by the baseline controller AFRL had previously been utilizing, he could easily defeat it. However, even after repeated attempts against the more mature version of ALPHA, not only could he not score a kill against it, he was shot out of the air by the reds every
time after protracted engagements.
That's pretty damning. They tied one electronic arm behind the AI's back and it was still able to down a veteran pilot.
IRL the AI aircraft would likely have substantially better performance than a manned aircraft, making the disparity even worse.
This all squares with what I've been hearing in recent years. There seems to be quite a bit of resistance to the idea of unmanned fighters in the upper ranks of the USAF, but the writing is on the wall. Been there for a long time now.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 14.9 ms ] threadThe paper is very vague on the technical details, unfortunately. This appears to be a largely hardcoded logic-based system with some genetic programming (rather than a machine learned system).
>When Geno took manual control of the blue aircraft against the reds controlled by the baseline controller AFRL had previously been utilizing, he could easily defeat it. However, even after repeated attempts against the more mature version of ALPHA, not only could he not score a kill against it, he was shot out of the air by the reds every time after protracted engagements.
That's pretty damning. They tied one electronic arm behind the AI's back and it was still able to down a veteran pilot.
IRL the AI aircraft would likely have substantially better performance than a manned aircraft, making the disparity even worse.
This all squares with what I've been hearing in recent years. There seems to be quite a bit of resistance to the idea of unmanned fighters in the upper ranks of the USAF, but the writing is on the wall. Been there for a long time now.