US Air Force conducts first autonomous flight of F-16 under VENOM program

The U.S. Air Force performed its first autonomous test flight of an F‑16 fighter jet using the Viper Experimentation and Next‑generation Operations Model (VENOM) program. The flight, conducted over Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, employed a VENOM Autonomy Kit that lets a single cockpit switch toggle control between the pilot and an artificial‑intelligence system. A test pilot remained in the cockpit as a backup, maintaining a human‑in‑the‑loop safety architecture.

Six F‑16 aircraft were modified for the experiment, which is a joint effort by the Air Force and DARPA. The trial aims to demonstrate how AI‑driven autonomy can be integrated into the existing fleet of combat jets, rather than building entirely new prototypes, laying groundwork for future large‑scale deployment of autonomous capabilities in standard fighters.