What Happened
Avoiding Unintended Conflict In The Skies Requires Urgent Cooperation
The US and China must establish rules for autonomous fighters to avoid unintended conflicts, as rapid military AI development increases the urgency for agreed limits. The US plans to scale up autonomous capabilities across its military, with the Pentagon requesting $54.6 billion for autonomous systems in 2027. This development comes after a series of close encounters between US and Chinese aircraft, including a 2022 incident where a Chinese J-11 fighter came within metres of a US RC-135 surveillance plane. The need for cooperation was highlighted by Mustafa Bilal, a researcher at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, in an opinion piece published in the South China Morning Post.