DARPA envisions the “VENOM” program as a plugin for existing F-16 fighter jets, allowing pilots to toggle on AI as an autopilot to free up attention for other tasks.

Two years ago, in April 2024, the United States Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officially initiated the “Viper Experimentation and Next-generation Operations Model” (VENOM) program with the first three F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida. Three additional testbed aircraft arrived last year, with the jet fighters being employed in the testing of artificial intelligence (AI) software for autonomous flying under the direction of the 96th Test Wing and 53rd Wing.

The continuing joint effort is part of the larger US Air Force Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, which is aimed at establishing trusted, human-machine teaming in combat scenarios, and as part of the Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) program.

The Air Force announced that one of the modified F-16s has advanced to in-air testing, with an AI agent controlling its flight.

“This milestone advances state of the art technological infrastructure designed to enable rapid, scalable combat AI development across the joint force,” DARPA announced on Thursday.

AI-Piloted Fighter Aircraft: America’s ACE in the Hole

These efforts build on the ACE flights that were conducted as part of the X-62A VISTA program, which remains separate from VENOM. It involved the X-62 Variable In-flight Simulator Aircraft (VISTA), a single modified-F-16 that served as a foundational testbed to demonstrate how an AI could pilot a full-scale jet fighter in live aerial combat.

“These groundbreaking flight tests of VENOM-modified F-16s advance the infrastructure needed to develop trusted, autonomous air combat capabilities,” suggested Brig. Gen. James “Fangs” Valpiani, DARPA program manager. “The Air Force and DARPA team has automated flight controls and sensors on a standard F-16 without changing the jet’s core software. This enables an efficient pipeline for developing dominant AI for aerial combat, allowing us to rapidly innovate for the warfighter.”

In May 2024, then-Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall was treated to a flight in an autonomously controlled X-62A VISTA at Edwards AFB, California. That flight came just weeks after the air service announced that an autonomously piloted F-16 Fighting Falcon had taken part in a series of simulated dogfights with a manned fighter.

The VENOM AI Program Could Be Put into a “Kit”

DARPA is now putting a focus on the VENOM Autonomy Kit, which features an innovative control and mission system that enables the pilot to “toggle between traditional human control and AI control with the flip of a switch.” This ensures that a human operator can remain in control of the aircraft when needed, but could toggle functions to the AI when needed for other tasks—potentially allowing a single pilot to take the jobs of both a pilot and a weapon systems officer (WSO), a second airman included in some aircraft like the F-15 Eagle and sometimes the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The current efforts at Eglin AFB are also underway to support the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program to develop unmanned “loyal wingmen” that will serve alongside manned fighters.

“AI has tremendous potential to help humans manage this complexity in beyond-visual-range combat, but many hard questions remain concerning the performance and trustworthiness of combat AI in the extreme fog and friction of modern warfare,” Valpiani said. “The AIR program aims to apply cutting-edge combat agents to operationally relevant scenarios to address these questions and field war-deterring, war-winning capabilities to our warfighters.”

Could DARPA’s VENOM Support the Air Force’s CCA Program?

The modified F-16s at Eglin AFB began test flights in June, which were meant to ensure that the aircraft performed as expected. Efforts then moved to in-air testing of the autonomous agents earlier this month. However, the flights only came after months of ground testing along with “countless simulation hours” that began as far back as 2024.

“Getting the aircraft into the air is always a monumental milestone for a complex test program,” said Tim Stevens, a VENOM test pilot with the 40th Flight Test Squadron.  “It represents years of design, modification, and test planning poured into this project by a dedicated team of hundreds. As we cross this starting line, we are excited to watch VENOM redefine the boundaries of autonomous flight.”

These tests will continue to lay the groundwork for the uncrewed CCA drone program and help develop the methods and interfaces human pilots may require when operating alongside teams of autonomous drones.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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