In a first an AI pilot flew a real uncrewed F16 in simulated aerial dog fights
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF By testing its first AI pilot in real planes the US could suddenly field thousands of old grounded planes in battle to regain overmatch against their opponents. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about...
Unmanned military drones team up with manned fighter jets during BAE trial
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The balance of future wars, it can be argued, will be won or lost on the quality of the AI’s that “run” future war machines … but first they have to play nice and team up. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community,...
USAF pumps $60m into Quarterhorse their future 4,000mph autonomous aircraft
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future aircraft are fast, and autonomous, and also fast… really fast. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Future aircraft will be fast – very fast – and some of them...
The world’s first active duty military AI co-pilot just got its next mission
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF First AI helped control aircraft avionics, then it took on missions, and it won’t be soon before it replaces military pilots altogether. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Recently Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
AI fighter pilot obliterates human USAF pilot in simulated dogfights
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI’s learn in fundamentally different ways to humans, and increasingly that seems to be their advantage in human-machine competitions. Interested in the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from our XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Who’s better in a dog fight...
USAF topguns will fight against AI drones in 2021 as era of autonomous warfare nears
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of air combat will increasingly fought by autonomous systems, not human pilots, and the race to create those systems has already begun. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. I’ve been talking about the rise of fully...
Featured Futurist: The Future of Air Travel 2050, Netflights
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world of aviation and travel is changing, it’s getting faster, more autonomous, more entertaining, more personalised, and more sustainable for starters. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Firstly, thank you to Yolanda and the team at Netflights...
World’s first fully pilotless commercial aircraft takes off from France
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Everyone tells us aircraft can fly by themselves, now they really can, and this is just the first step of that transition. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. We’ve all heard and read about the arrival of autonomous...
Autonomous planes, hypersonic jets and flying cars, Boeing unveils its future
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One day aircraft will be fully autonomous, but getting there is a journey of many steps and this is one of them, and Boeing is placing its bets. Everything it seems these days is going autonomous, from cars, trains and trucks, to giant cargo ships...
Neural implants let military pilots control three jets at once with their minds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of warfare is digital and telepathic, and both types of warfare are now starting to enter the mainstream. Asides from the fact we are increasingly entering the world where brains meets brawn, literally, and where, future cyber warriors will telepathically roam the...
Mysterious hypersonic SR-72 demonstrator spotted in California
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Hypersonic platforms, from autonomous aircraft to “carrier killers” and missiles, so it’s inevitable that over the next five or so years sightings are going to increase Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Program (ADP), better known as “Skunk Works,” might be further along in the development...
Lockheed confirms it’s building the unmanned hypersonic SR-72 aircraft
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The next generation of aircraft, and warfare, will be hypersonic and as China and Russia make big advances in the space the US is stepping up its game. The US has been playing around with hypersonic aircraft for decades now, the most public showing...
Boeing will trial its first self-piloting planes in 2018
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of transportation is autonomous, and giant passenger planes will be no different. At this week’s Paris Airshow Boeing, who along with Rolls Royce are talking about fuel-less aircraft, announced that they are looking towards a “brave new world” where jetliners fly without...
Airbus will test its new “Sky taxi” later this year
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF With more people moving into the cities gridlock is becoming the bane of most people’s lives, Airbus and others, including Uber propose taking to the skies but people with vertigo should watch out. Airbus has been eyeing the increasingly interesting, and viable, flying taxi...
The US Marines want to build a fully autonomous F-35
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As weapons systems, and war, become more autonomous it is inevitable that the US, Chinese, Indian and Russian military will continue to push the boundaries of unmanned combat. The US Marine Corps is in the looking to obtaining what it calls a “mega-drone” that...
US Navy stands up the worlds first fully autonomous drone squadron
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When you look across the spectrum of military developments it is clear that nation states are now committed to creating fully autonomous military platforms, the only question left to answer is when will they make their own “Kill” decisions. The time when the US...
US Navy’s future supersonic submarines will command swarms of autonomous drones
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Americas submarines of the future will command huge swarms of autonomous drones and travel at supersonic speeds, changing the nature of warfare, and balance of power. In the next two decades the US is going to be putting its next generation of subs into...
Ubers flying taxis will take passengers to the heavens and back by 2021
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Most urban transportation systems today are at capacity and, or, gridlocked. Using the airspace above cities is one way to alleviate those burdens. There’s no doubt that Uber has redefined the world of business and sparked a revolution. Whether it’s because they’re masters at tapping...
DARPA’s hack proof code protects military systems from hackers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cyber attacks are on the rise but there’s one code no hackers have been able to crack. An autonomous helicopter gunship is flying over a military base in Arizona. Suddenly, officers on the ground lose radio contact and learn that hackers have taken control of its on-board...
