The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has achieved a milestone in its VENOM program, allowing pilots to toggle control of F-16 fighter jets between human and artificial intelligence during flight, according to reports. The capability is part of DARPA's efforts to develop scalable AI for aerial combat, enhancing the operational capabilities of the U.S. Air Force.
The VENOM (Viper Experiment and Next-Generation Operations Model) program milestone represents a significant step in integrating artificial intelligence into piloted combat aircraft. The system allows an F-16 pilot to hand over control to an AI agent mid-flight, then resume control, a capability DARPA is developing for scalable, autonomous aerial combat. The development comes amid a broader U.S. military push toward human-machine teaming, with AI-assisted operations already deployed by CENTCOM in the Middle East and by the IDF in drone warfare, as The Zioneer has previously reported. The VENOM program is a key element of DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) initiative, which aims to build trust in autonomous systems and eventually field AI that can operate alongside human pilots in contested airspace.
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