Musk Tells USAF Fighter Era Is Over

Lee Hudson February 28, 2020
Elon Musk

ORLANDO, Florida—Billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has told the U.S. Air Force the fighter era is over.

“The really dangerous future” is autonomous drone warfare, Musk said Feb. 28 during the annual Air Warfare Symposium here. Musk said he does not necessarily like this idea but it will become reality.

Another controversial opinion he offered is that the Lockheed Martin F-35 should have a competitor.

A few hours after his presentation, Musk elaborated on Twitter: “The competitor should be a drone fighter plane that’s remote controlled by a human, but with its maneuvers augemented by autonomy. The F-35 would have no chance against it.”

Over the next five years, artificial intelligence will be the most transformative technology to shape the space industry, Musk says. Accordingly, he encourages young people to study physics and computer science. The Pentagon continues to invest in this technology and is proposing that a substantial amount of its research and development dollars go toward artificial intelligence.

Musk warns if the U.S. does not invest heavily in space it will fall behind adversaries, but said establishing a Space Force is a step in the right direction. The nation must rapidly innovate and instill the idea that failure is acceptable, he added.

If the U.S. military does not let its people innovate and fail, Musk cautions, the nation may fall behind when developing future technology. For example, when SpaceX developed its Starlink constellation it started manufacturing satellites while still evolving the design. This helped the team discover what parts were difficult to build and redesign those sections for easier production.

Lee Hudson

Comments

4 Comments
Paladin
Mon, 03/02/2020 - 13:52
Based on the video, it also looks like Musk's Starship era is over.
joe
Mon, 03/02/2020 - 14:20
The F-35 isn’t really a fighter. It’s sensor, comms node for the future UCAVS but is it really necessary in a Starlink, WebOne world? Idk?
phidias robert cinaglia
Mon, 03/02/2020 - 17:18
Robert McNamara predicted something quite analogous. It's ironic that Elon Musk is attacking yet another "committee" bird (F-35) ... using the arguments used -for- the previous "committee" bird (F-111). What is more sobering is that Elon is essentially claiming that AI and remote sensing can entirely supplant the mind, eyes and passion of a human warrior on-scene. He might be right - but my guts tell me that reality will provide painful lessons to those American forces who depend for their safety on drone based FEBA defenses.
gxclark
Wed, 03/04/2020 - 01:04
I'd say put your money where you mouth is, Mr. Musk. Let's see what your best remotely piloted vehicle can do against USAF F-22s in Red Flag or similar. The F-35 is not the plane to beat, and he should know that. In all likelihood, he is right in the long-term. However there are likely many painful lessons in the short and medium term that are being glossed over, like the cutting of the umbilical link back to the remote pilot, and then the quality of the AI that remains. Is Dr. Roper's budding military Internet-of-Things up to the task of keeping the network functional in wartime? Maybe not quite yet.