The U.S. Air Force is working on a program to produce about a thousand unmanned fighters equipped with artificial intelligence. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, according to UNN.
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The program's budget is estimated at $6 billion. The Pentagon expects to order 1,000 unmanned fighters for this amount, and hundreds of such drones could enter service with the US Air Force within five years.
Anduril Industries, Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are among the companies bidding for the contract with the US defense department.
It is planned that unmanned fighters will accompany and protect manned aircraft, such as F-35 fighters and B-21 bombers. In addition, they will be able to carry their own weapons, strike other aircraft and targets on the ground, and perform reconnaissance functions.
The US military has decided to make greater use of unmanned technologies and AI due to the high cost of building standard military aircraft operated by pilots. By using drones, the Pentagon wants to strengthen its air force, which has reached its lowest levels since 1947, the publication notes.