For the VENOM project, six fighter planes will be sampled so far, but if the experiment is successful, the number of drones will be increased.
The US Air Force plans to convert six F-16 fighter jets into unmanned aerial vehicles that will serve as wing assistants to more modern F-35 aircraft, writes Interesting Engineering. This will be part of an experimental program called VENOM (Viper Experiment and Next-Generation Model of Operations), which has received approximately $50 million from the Pentagon.
The aim of the project is to test and develop standalone software that will control drones in various situations. According to Air Force Chief Scientist Victoria Coleman, the VENOM project is “a bridge between the fully autonomous capability set and the fully manned capability set that the military has today.”
The VENOM project includes adding autonomous control to six F-16s. Of course, the planes will not be left unattended during the experiments and will be controlled by the pilots, but once they take off, people will hand over all control functions to the fighters themselves. This approach will allow the US Air Force to add new software and speed up the certification process.
The F-16 drones will be part of the Next Generation Air Domination program and a large network of Collaborative Fighters (CBCs) that will use autonomous capabilities to fly the F-35A fighter jets. Drone fighters like the F-16 can carry missiles or other weapons, perform electronic warfare operations, or fly in front of other aircraft for their sensors to provide intelligence.
The US Air Force wants to have at least 1000 KBS, but the timing of the program is not yet known and everything will depend on the initial tests.
Previously Focus wrote that the military aircraft will receive unique EW protection: it will help to evade the laser guidance of the enemy.
Source: Focus
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