Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has completed an AI-enabled flight campaign at Edwards Air Force Base in California, using the X-62 VISTA test aircraft to carry out 27 live-target intercepts across eight sorties. The demonstration involved the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and industry partners, and used real sensor data to guide the aircraft into tactical intercept positions against a T-38 target jet.
The exercise centred on sensor-driven autonomy, with the AI using inputs from Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod, which incorporates the IRST21 infrared search-and-track sensor. Unlike radar-based targeting, the system relied on passive infrared sensing to identify and track the airborne target.
The X-62 VISTA, a heavily modified F-16 used as a flying laboratory for autonomy research, has been a key platform in testing human-machine teaming and autonomous decision-making. Lockheed Martin integrated and tested the software on the aircraft within three months, while the latest campaign was presented as a step toward future collaborative combat aircraft and other platforms expected to operate in contested environments where radar and communications may be limited.