Saab and defense startup Helsing have tested an AI tool, Centaur, that cues pilots to fire missiles from the Gripen E fighter jet.
In three Project Beyond flights between May and June, the Gripen E handed control to Centaur AI to fly combat maneuvers autonomously beyond visual range (BVR). On the third flight, Centaur faced off against a real Gripen D in dynamic BVR scenarios using real-time sensor data to track the target.
Saab and Helsing tested Centaur’s adaptability by changing initial distances, speeds, and even disabling command and control data. Helsing’s Antoine Bordes said the AI’s performance during that flight equaled about 50 years of pilot experience in just a few hours. 
“We estimate that the [AI] agent that flew [during the third flight] last week, flew for around 50 years of the equivalent pilot years, but it took us only a few hours to do that,” Antoine Bordes, VP of Artificial Intelligence at Helsing, said.
Centaur was trained and tested over six months using Gripen simulator data. The program is fully backed by the Swedish Defence Material Administration and is part of Sweden’s future fighter project aiming to decide on procurement by 2031. Saab owns 5% of Helsing after investing €75 million last year.
Saab’s next plans could see two AI-driven Gripens versus two pilot-only jets in simulations, said Peter Nilsson, Saab Aeronautics’ head of advanced programs. Marcus Wandt, Saab’s Chief Innovation Officer, warned that pilots no longer have a guaranteed edge in dogfights against AI-backed jets.
“It is not a given” any longer, that a pilot will continue to win in a dogfight against an AI supported fighter jet.
“There are still pilots out there that will have a chance, but that will change fast,” Marcus Wandt explained.
The tests follow the US Air Force’s 2024 AI-controlled F-16 demonstration, where then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall called AI “a security risk not to have.”
Image: Helsing’s Centaur AI tool guided Saab’s Gripen E to launch weapons during Project Beyond flight tests (Saab)
