Robot reality check: Crewed warplanes will remain vital for years, USAF general says

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.—The U.S. military is many years away from letting robots take over the role of human pilots, according to the Air Force official who oversees development of AI piloting technology.

“There may be someday we can completely rely on robotized warfare” but “it is centuries away,” said Brig. Gen. Doug Wickert, commander of the 412th Test Wing here. 

The base is the hub for testing a host of new planes and technology, including software that enables AI to drive fighter jets. The test wing has been experimenting with autonomous pilots through its X-62A VISTA platform, a modified F-16 jet loaded with AI software. 

What AI pilots can do today is remarkable, Wickert said, but there’s still a gap between the digital world and the real deal—and robot pilots still make "unexpected" choices during flight tests. 

Wickert’s comments come as the U.S. military faces scrutiny—and mockery—from President-elect Donald Trump’s key advisers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy for buying expensive manned fighter jets instead of prioritizing drones and other lower-cost platforms. 

Beyond concerns about technology readiness, warfare is extremely complicated and incorporating AI raises a number of ethics questions—includingwhether the chance of war increases if humans aren’t in the equation, Wickert told a group of reporters visiting the base. 

Edwards, a sprawling complex in the western portion of the Mojave Desert, has tested every generation of fighter jet since America’s very first—the Bell P-59 in 1942. Now, the base is preparing to test the next generation of fighter technology, including the Air Force’s new robot fighter jets, called collaborative combat aircraft. The CCAs will cost about $30 million per drone, which is roughly a third of the cost of one F-35 jet.

The base will house the Air Force’s CCA drones for testing—likely next year—once the two contractors, General Atomics and Anduril, finish their prototypes. The AI software being developed through the VISTA program won’t go straight into the CCAs, but will “inform” the AI-enabled drones, Wickert said.

Loading AI onto the drones will be an incremental effort, and CCAs will have “varying levels of autonomy” as the service builds trust in AI, Wickert said.

Base officials have already started preparing for the Air Force’s 6th-generation stealth fighter jet, called Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD. But the program’s fate is up in the air after service secretary Frank Kendall paused the program in July due to high-cost projections and emerging technology, and the service announced Thursday that it would further delay the program, punting a decision to the next administration. 

But the ongoing pause doesn’t have a significant impact on Edwards, Wickert said, because there’s still planning to do to prepare for NGAD testing. The base has already hired more people so it can prepare for when the Air Force eventually makes a source selection on NGAD, he said.