On a clear afternoon this month, high above the Mojave Desert, an A.I.-powered drone launched a missile in a test that could reshape modern warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the dawn of the jet age, the U.S. military has used the isolation over this stretch of sand to push secret, experimental aircraft to their aerodynamic and technological limits. It\u2019s doing the same today: fine-tuning machines capable of engaging in aerial combat with barely any human intervention. These drones\u2019 flight is controlled not by a pilot, not by human remote control, but entirely by onboard software. It\u2019s a historic advancement in drone technology that aims to incorporate artificial intelligence into everyday war-fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s conflicts are increasingly defined by unmanned weapons, delivering destruction over battlefields in Ukraine, Iran and Sudan. But in almost all these cases, there is a human operator sitting somewhere, steering each robot toward its target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two types of next-generation drones being tested over Southern California today, built for the Air Force by Anduril and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, can fly entirely on their own. They make hundreds of split-second decisions to maneuver, evade and attack enemy targets, based upon countless hours of flight data and computer processing. A human is involved at just a few key moments in their flight: to program the drone\u2019s mission, to start and stop it and to decide whether or not it should launch a weapon. Late last year, the companies\u2019 drones flew for the first time. Anduril fired its first missile<\/a> two weeks ago, and General Atomics says it is not far behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> A.I. Drones Are Coming. We Are Not Ready. https:\/\/t.co\/Mi1VD9f8ep<\/a><\/p>— Avner Gidron (@AvnerGidron) July 20, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>