Korean aerospace advances: Unmanned FA‑50 set for 2026 tests
The Korean aerospace company KAI has announced the commencement of work on an unmanned combat aircraft. The K-AI Pilot research program plans to use the FA-50, a light training and combat aircraft.
The Korean announcement regarding the K-AI Pilot program highlights significant changes in military aviation. Currently, capabilities are primarily dependent on the individual skills of relatively few technically sophisticated platforms, such as single-combat aircraft.
The Korean project aims to introduce changes in this area. The future of combat aviation is expected to belong to complementary manned and unmanned systems operating within a network of smaller, more affordable, and simpler machines, creating a sensor network.
Lim Seong-shin, responsible for AI research conducted by KAI, stated that by 2026, tests of an unmanned FA-50 exploring its autonomous flight capabilities will begin. The next stage of trials will include formation flights and "semi-autonomous combat maneuvers."
It's noteworthy that Korea's proposed schedule somewhat resembles the work recently disclosed by Lockheed Martin's aviation innovation centre, Skunk Works.
Skunk Works experiments
In November 2024, the Americans demonstrated a mixed manned-unmanned air defense mission using three aircraft: the manned L-39 Albatros and two unmanned L-29 Delfin aircraft. In this scenario, the L-39 served as the combat management aircraft. One of its pilots, using a touchscreen interface, assigned targets to the two autonomous machines.
Once the targets were designated, the unmanned Delfins collaborated to identify and eliminate two enemy jets. These tests represent another stage of work that had previously demonstrated AI's effectiveness in controlling aircraft performing electronic warfare tasks.
Although similar experiments were conducted earlier, Skunk Works' innovative approach involves a human supervisor directing the actions of combat drones.
Skunk Works chief John Clark emphasized that the experiment is fundamentally important for the future of military aviation, where "a family of manned and unmanned systems will collaborate to carry out complex missions."
Saab JAS-39 Gripen E with AI Helsing
Sweden has adopted a different approach to developing its virtual pilot. Project Beyond has facilitated collaboration between the aviation company Saab and the German startup Helsing, responsible for AI in aviation.
Saab plans to gradually and evolutionarily introduce AI-related solutions in Gripen E aircraft:
The planned work schedule involves the initial tests utilizing AI Helsing in combat against air targets beyond visual range.
Unmanned F-16: X-62A VISTA
The United States is already conducting tests that Sweden is only planning. In the spring of 2024, DARPA revealed an experimental battle between human-piloted F-16s and a special test version, the X-62A Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA).
In this scenario, it wasn't about the battle's course itself but the virtual pilot's coordination with real ones. For this purpose, the X-62A's cockpit had two pilots ready to intervene, which wasn't necessary. During simulated battles, the AI maintained all required safety standards and did not breach training regulations.
The X-62A aircraft used in these tests is also noteworthy in the context of AI development. It's a modified F-16 that first flew in 1992 under the name NF-16D.
Since then, the aircraft has undergone constant modifications. It features a thrust-vectoring engine nozzle for enhanced maneuverability and an additional fairing on the back of the fuselage that houses, among other things, a system responsible for changes in the aircraft's stability. The landing gear was also reinforced to withstand numerous landing attempts at higher-than-recommended vertical speeds.
Its current name – X-62A VISTA – was adopted in 2021 along with a package of improvements for tests in the Skyborg autonomous drone program.
