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Europe is just a few years away from being able to deploy fighter jets without human pilots.
Drone maker and artificial intelligence company Helsing allowed the software to control the Gripen E-Fighter Jet, made by Swedish weapons maker Saab in two exercises in the Baltic Sea in May and June.
Stephanie Lingeman, senior director of the company’s aviation division, said the experiment showed how rapidly the technology was progressing as safety pilots remained on the aircraft as backup.
The adoption of software by the Air Force in real-life settings is a “year, not decades” issue, she said. “I look forward to the last 10 years.”
Lingemann said that while the best human fighter pilots can expect to achieve 5,000 flight times during their careers, it took only 72 hours for Helsing’s company Centaur AI system to gain 1 million hours of experience.
“You can reach superhuman performances very quickly and react to new situations. And you don’t need to send your pilot into dangerous situations,” she said. “That’s why it’s so innovative.”
Militaries around the world, including the US, Russia and China, are working on adapting existing fighter jets and developing new unmanned aerial vehicles known as “loyal wingmen” who can work with them and improve their capabilities.
According to US Air Force Colonel Kevin Anderson, this trend represents a “paradigm shift in aviation combat around the world.”
When asked whether technology completely eliminates the need for traditional fighters, Lingemann said she imagines a long transition period.
She suggested that pilots first fly the jet along with AI software, which helped them perform complex operations and detect threats. “I think we’ll have decades of seeing both,” she said. “And as with drones, the operator gradually switches to different roles.”
Helsing was founded four years ago, but it quickly grew into one of Europe’s biggest startups as wars in Ukraine and the US retreat from European security sparked a massive move on the continent.
Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Investment Company led a 600 million euro funding round in June, valued Tech Group at 12 billion euros amid a surge in investor interest in the defense sector.
Helsing began to focus purely on the production of AI software for current and future weapons, but has since expanded to produce its own drones and unmanned underwater vessels.
Founded by three Germans, it has offices in London and Paris, Munich and Berlin, and hopes to establish itself as a pan-European company when the continent is trying to improve its defensive capabilities and promote local production.
The ballooning industry of autonomous weapons raises big questions about ethics, accountability and the future of war.
Antoine Bordes, vice-president of Artificial Intelligence at Helsing, said humans are always at the heart of decision-making when it comes to deploying Helsing Weapons and Software systems.
However, he said it is important that Europe is not enthusiastic about developing autonomous strike technology. “If we don’t do that in Europe, it will take our own value and it will take place elsewhere,” he said.
Still, Simon Brünjes, who runs the Helsing division that produces armed drones deployed in Ukraine, said the company “don’t want to go there” when it comes to deploying deadly, completely autonomous drones that decide what to attack when.
In a recent visit to Ukraine, Brunjes said he has seen that kindergartens and other private infrastructures are often very close to the forefront.
“In this environment, we want people to make decisions,” he said. “In other scenarios, a full-scale war with Russia and China — is another question.”
Helsing, which has contracts to supply Ukraine with a total of 10,000 drones, has garnered some criticism from the country’s military over the performance and price tag of the Altra software and the HF-1 drones.
Brünjes said the HF-1 has a “capacity cap,” but he was confident that the HX-2, a successor model tested in Ukraine, would represent a significant improvement.
