December 11,
2008: The U.S. Air Force has successfully tested autonomous landing software on
an F-16 fighter. Such systems have been
available for commercial aircraft since the 1990s. Last year, the U.S. Air
Force successfully tested such systems on C-130 transports. Earlier this year,
the replacement for the MQ-1B Predator
UAV, the MQ-1C Sky Warrior, successfully tested automatic landing and takeoff
software. This makes the aircraft easier and safer to use, and also is one step
closer to a fully autonomous aircraft. There are already some fully autonomous
UAVs, that can operate without any human control. The air force is particularly
keen on making their UAVs more autonomous, to help ease the stress on its
overworked UAV crews. Such automated systems on manned aircraft reduces the
workload for the pilot.
