The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force have completed the first autonomous AI-controlled flight of a standard operational F-16 Fighting Falcon under a program called VENOM — an acronym for Viper Experimentation and Next-generation Operations Model — marking a significant escalation in the military's integration of artificial intelligence into front-line combat aviation.
Background: From Simulation to Live Dogfighting
<cite index="13-5">Begun in 2019, DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program aims to develop trusted, scalable, human-level, AI-driven autonomy for air combat, using human-machine collaborative dogfighting as its core challenge problem.</cite> The program's early public milestone came in August 2020, when <cite index="13-6">the ACE program's AlphaDogfight Trials pitted AI agents against each other flying simulated F-16s in a virtual dogfighting competition that culminated with the winning AI defeating an experienced F-16 fighter pilot flying in a simulator.</cite>
The leap to live aircraft followed in late 2022. <cite index="13-1">DARPA performers EpiSci, PhysicsAI, Shield AI, and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory flew different F-16 AI algorithms on the X-62A.</cite> <cite index="4-2,4-3">The ACE AI algorithms controlled the X-62A — a specially modified F-16 test aircraft known as VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft) — at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, achieving the first-ever in-air tests of AI algorithms autonomously flying an F-16 against a human-piloted F-16 in within-visual-range combat scenarios, sometimes referred to as "dogfighting."</cite>
<cite index="1-2">Beginning in 2023 and continuing in 2024, the ACE program piloted an F-16 fighter jet variant against an opposing human-piloted F-16 in within-visual-range combat scenarios.</cite> <cite index="1-11,1-12">DARPA said the ACE program first began flying combat maneuvers in September of 2023, building up in safety using maneuvers — first defensive, then offensive, then high-aspect nose-to-nose engagements reaching as close as 2,000 feet at 1,200 miles per hour.</cite>
The VENOM Program: Scaling to the Fleet
The latest development represents a deliberate transition from the one-of-a-kind X-62A testbed to scalable fleet aircraft. <cite index="14-1">The aircraft is one of a group of F-16s that have been converted into autonomous-capable platforms under the VENOM program — a joint effort between the U.S. Air Force and DARPA, initiated under the ACE program.</cite> <cite index="14-3">Building on previous ACE flights with the X-62A VISTA, which proved an AI agent could autonomously pilot a fighter jet in a dogfight, the VENOM flight demonstrates the United States' ability to transform standard operational fleet aircraft to employ cutting-edge AI.</cite>
<cite index="6-4,6-5">The Air Force and DARPA team automated flight controls and sensors on a standard F-16 without changing the jet's core software, enabling an efficient pipeline for developing AI for aerial combat. The modification, known as the VENOM Autonomy Kit (VAK), was designed and integrated by multiple performers under the DARPA ACE program.</cite>
<cite index="3-2">The technology kit allows "a pilot to toggle between traditional human control and AI control with the flip of a switch," DARPA said.</cite> <cite index="8-9,8-10">A total of six F-16Cs are to be modified into test platforms; the first three arrived at Eglin Air Force Base in April 2024, with subsequent aircraft following through 2025.</cite>
<cite index="8-14,8-15">The first phase of flight operations began in June 2026, when the modified aircraft flew piloted missions to verify that the hardware and software upgrades worked safely in the air. Following those validation flights, the program transitioned in July to missions in which the onboard AI agent assumed autonomous control of portions of flight while the safety pilot monitored performance.</cite>
Safety Architecture and Human Oversight
A defining feature of both ACE and VENOM is a deliberate commitment to human oversight. <cite index="7-5">For safety, a human pilot sat in the VISTA's cockpit throughout the AI dogfighting demonstrations, though his intervention was not needed as the AI did all the flying.</cite> <cite index="1-7,1-8">One concern was that an AI program could strain an aircraft's flight control surfaces past their physical limitations; DARPA said it implemented "safety trips" within VISTA to keep the AI from overstraining the airframe.</cite> Officials have confirmed <cite index="5-2">that the aircraft will never fly without a human component.</cite>
Broader Defense Implications
<cite index="9-4">DARPA's ACE program focuses on integrating AI into tactical aviation, aiming to establish a framework for ethical and trusted human-machine teaming across both military and civilian aerospace applications.</cite> <cite index="5-7">Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) — autonomous uncrewed aircraft designed to fly alongside crewed fighters as "loyal wingmen" — are directly informed by technology and data generated by VENOM, including development programs like Skyborg.</cite>
As Brigadier General James "Fangs" Valpiani, DARPA program manager, stated in the agency's official release: <cite index="6-2,6-3">"These groundbreaking flight tests of VENOM-modified F-16s advance the infrastructure needed to develop trusted, autonomous air combat capabilities."</cite> The program signals a shift from proof-of-concept research toward production-scale deployment of AI in contested airspace.