{"id":9637535,"date":"2026-08-05T09:08:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T09:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:09:43","slug":"x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><p>An artificial-intelligence agent just strapped into a fighter, stared at an enemy jet through an infrared eye, and ran it down twenty-seven times &mdash; and no human touched the stick.<\/p><p>Lockheed Martin Skunk Works pulled the curtain back on August 4, 2026, revealing that its autonomous flight-control software had flown the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-16-fighting-falcon\/\">F-16<\/a>-derived X-62A VISTA through 27 tactical intercepts against a live T-38 Talon. The flights happened back in April, across eight sorties, under two crisply named test programs: HAVE HEAT and HAVE HOLIDAYS.<\/p><p>What makes this one different from the AI dogfighting demos that came before it is where the machine was looking. This time it flew on real sensor data, gathered in the air, in real time &mdash; not a simulated target fed to it by a computer.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:8px;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px;color:#333\">Quick Facts<\/p>\r\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px;line-height:1.8;color:#333\">\r\n<li><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> X-62A VISTA (a heavily modified NF-16D)<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>What happened:<\/strong> An AI agent flew 27 autonomous intercepts across 8 sorties<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Target:<\/strong> A live T-38 Talon acting as the \"enemy\"<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Sensor:<\/strong> Legion Pod infrared search-and-track (IRST) &mdash; passive, jam-resistant<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Programs:<\/strong> HAVE HEAT and HAVE HOLIDAYS, flown April 2026<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Revealed:<\/strong> August 4, 2026, by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Partner:<\/strong> U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A passive eye instead of a radar<\/h2><p>The X-62A carried a Legion Pod, an infrared search-and-track system that hunts by heat rather than by pinging the sky with radar energy. That matters. A radar shouts; an IRST listens. It cannot be jammed the way a radar can, and it does not announce your position to everyone with a warning receiver.<\/p><p>The AI agent took the raw infrared feed straight from the pod, worked out where the T-38 was, and steered the fighter into a firing position on its own. Skunk Works calls the software behind it a \"Supermassive\" agent-generation capability, and says it integrated and ground-tested the agents with the X-62 in just three months.<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1280668500  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-flight-test.jpg\" alt=\"X-62A VISTA in flight\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The X-62A VISTA over Edwards Air Force Base. The one-of-a-kind jet can mimic the handling of almost any aircraft &mdash; and now hands its controls to AI. USAF photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<p>Closing what engineers call the \"sensor-to-action loop\" &mdash; see the target, decide, maneuver &mdash; entirely inside the airplane, with no ground station in the chain, is the whole point. It is the difference between a science project and something you could bolt onto a real combat aircraft.<\/p><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Skunk Works is claiming<\/h2>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Our autonomous agents consumed classified infrared search and track feeds and executed combat-critical maneuvers in real time. This achievement marks a decisive advance toward delivering AI-augmented air dominance for the United States.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Ron Fehlen<\/strong> &mdash; VP &amp; GM, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>The company frames the work as a building block for future crewed-uncrewed teaming &mdash; the \"loyal wingman\" drones meant to fly alongside the next generation of fighters. The sensor half of the house is just as pleased.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Our ability to provide reliable sensor data is critical, but the real advantage comes when that data can connect seamlessly with AI to take action. This project demonstrates how sensing and autonomous AI can come together as a force multiplier.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Stacy Kubicek<\/strong> &mdash; VP &amp; GM, Lockheed Martin Sensors and Global Sustainment<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why the T-38 mattered<\/h2><p>Using a real, human-flown T-38 as the target &mdash; rather than a tidy simulated blip &mdash; forced the AI to deal with an actual airplane doing actual airplane things: real motion, real infrared signature, real timing. That is the messy, unscripted world a combat agent has to survive in.<\/p><p>The X-62A itself is the perfect lab for this. It is a single, priceless NF-16D rebuilt to imitate the flying qualities of almost any aircraft, and it flies with the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards. Handing its controls to software is exactly the kind of high-wire test it was born for.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T6tLCUyofOc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p>Twenty-seven intercepts is not a war. But it is a machine finding a target with its own eyes and running it down, over and over, without a single input from the cockpit. A few years ago that was a slide in a briefing. Now it is a logbook entry.<\/p><p><em>Sources: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works press release (Aug 4, 2026); DVIDS; Aviation Week; The War Zone; AeroTime.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/darpa-ai-venom-f-16-first-autonomous-flight-eglin-2026\/\">DARPA's AI Just Flew a Real F-16<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/india-ai-piloted-fighter-fwd-supreme\/\">India Unveils Its First AI-Piloted Fighter Concept<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/bae-falconworks-lockheed-skunk-works-blizzard-uas-farnborough-2026\/\">The Drone Built by Two Secret Labs<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artificial-intelligence agent just strapped into a fighter, stared at an enemy jet through an infrared eye, and ran it down twenty-seven times &mdash; and no human touched the stick. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works pulled the curtain back on August 4, 2026, revealing that its autonomous flight-control software had flown the F-16-derived X-62A VISTA through [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9637347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9637535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>X-62 VISTA AI Flies 27 Autonomous Intercepts | Afterburner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lockheed Skunk Works&#039; AI flew the X-62 VISTA through 27 live intercepts of a T-38 using infrared search-and-track data alone.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"X-62 VISTA AI Flies 27 Autonomous Intercepts | Afterburner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lockheed Skunk Works&#039; AI flew the X-62 VISTA through 27 live intercepts of a T-38 using infrared search-and-track data alone.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T07:08:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T07:09:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:1280\/h:853\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\"},\"headline\":\"AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T07:08:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T07:09:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":729,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military Aviation\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"X-62 VISTA AI Flies 27 Autonomous Intercepts | Afterburner\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T07:08:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T07:09:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Lockheed Skunk Works' AI flew the X-62 VISTA through 27 live intercepts of a T-38 using infrared search-and-track data alone.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"The X-62A VISTA flies in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, California, April 30. (Air Force Photo By Richard Gonzales)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\",\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joseph Duncan\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/author\\\/josephduncan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"X-62 VISTA AI Flies 27 Autonomous Intercepts | Afterburner","description":"Lockheed Skunk Works' AI flew the X-62 VISTA through 27 live intercepts of a T-38 using infrared search-and-track data alone.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"X-62 VISTA AI Flies 27 Autonomous Intercepts | Afterburner","og_description":"Lockheed Skunk Works' AI flew the X-62 VISTA through 27 live intercepts of a T-38 using infrared search-and-track data alone.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-05T07:08:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-05T07:09:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:1280\/h:853\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joseph Duncan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joseph Duncan","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"Joseph Duncan","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85"},"headline":"AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself","datePublished":"2026-08-05T07:08:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-05T07:09:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/"},"wordCount":729,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg","articleSection":["Military Aviation","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/","name":"X-62 VISTA AI Flies 27 Autonomous Intercepts | Afterburner","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-05T07:08:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-05T07:09:43+00:00","description":"Lockheed Skunk Works' AI flew the X-62 VISTA through 27 live intercepts of a T-38 using infrared search-and-track data alone.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/x-62a-vista-ai-intercepts-edwards.jpg","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"The X-62A VISTA flies in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, California, April 30. (Air Force Photo By Richard Gonzales)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-62a-vista-ai-27-intercepts-legion-irst-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85","name":"Joseph Duncan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joseph Duncan"},"description":"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/author\/josephduncan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9637535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9637535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9637535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9637562,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9637535\/revisions\/9637562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9637347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9637535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9637535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9637535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}