UK puts its defense industry on 'war footing' and gives Ukraine $620 million in new military aid

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The U.K. prime minister said Tuesday the country is putting its defense industry on a “war footing” by increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade, and pledged to send arms worth 500 million pounds ($620 million) to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the increase as the “biggest strengthening of our national defense for a generation.”

“In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War, we cannot be complacent," Sunak said at a news briefing alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Poland. “As our adversaries align, we must do more to defend our country, our interests and our values."

Sunak promised an extra 75 billion pounds ($93 billion) in defense spending over the next six years. The target of 2.5% of GDP spending was a re-commitment of a target set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022. Sunak previously said the goal would be met when economic conditions allow.

A decade ago, NATO leaders agreed to commit 2% of GDP to defense spending. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has given that effort new urgency. Britain has spent above that over the past decade but never higher than 2.35% in 2020, according to NATO data.

“We will put the U.K.’s own defense industry on a war footing,” Sunak told British troops serving on NATO's eastern front near Ukraine. “One of the central lessons of the war in Ukraine is that we need deeper stockpiles of munitions, and for industry to be able to replenish them more quickly.”

U.K. official figures show that defense spending last year was about 55.5 billion pounds. NATO data shows that amounting to about 2.07% of the U.K.’s GDP, ahead of countries including France and Germany but behind Poland, the U.S., Estonia and others.

“It's time for us to re-arm,” Sunak told a news briefing alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, noting that Poland spends a larger percentage of its GDP on defense than any NATO ally.

Sunak said that next year Britain would deploy its Typhoon fighter jets to Poland to help police its skies. Poland, which borders Ukraine, has seen several incursions of its airspace since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Sunak also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to confirm the new assistance to Ukraine and "assure him of the U.K.’s steadfast support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s brutal and expansionist ambitions,” Sunak's office said.

U.K. authorities said the commitment included 400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 munitions and 4 million rounds of ammunition, at a time when Ukraine is struggling to hold off advancing Russian forces on the eastern front line.

The shipment will include British Storm Shadow long-range missiles, which have a range of about 150 miles (240 kilometers) and have proved effective at hitting Russian targets.

Zelenskyy has pleaded for greater international assistance, warning that his country will lose the war without it.

Britain's announcement came three days after the U.S. House of Representatives approved $61 billion in new aid for Ukraine. The Senate was voting on the package Tuesday.

Ammunition shortages over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a disadvantage that Russia has seized on this year — taking the city of Avdiivka and currently inching towards the town of Chasiv Yar, also in the eastern Donetsk region.

Hui reported from London.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, right, and Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pose at the Prime Minister Office in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Sunak will hold talks with Tusk and Stoltenberg that will focus on Ukraine and wider European security. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, left, and Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pose at the Prime Minister Office in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Sunak will hold talks with Tusk and Stoltenberg that will focus on Ukraine and wider European security. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk shake hands after addressing a press conference following bilateral talks at the Prime Minister's office in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday April 23, 2024. (Henry Nicholls, Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, center, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, visit the Armourd Brigade barracks in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shake hands prior to talks at the Warsaw Armoured Brigade in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday April 23, 2024. (Henry Nicholls/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, center, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, visit the Armourd Brigade barracks in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shake hands prior to talks at the Warsaw Armoured Brigade in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday April 23, 2024. (Henry Nicholls/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrives at Warsaw Chopin airport in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday April 23, 2024. (Henry Nicholls/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrive together at the Armourd Brigade barracks in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to journalists on board of the plane on the way to Warsaw Chopin airport, Tuesday April 23, 2024. (Henry Nicholls/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, arrive together at the Armourd Brigade barracks in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) —

With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of U.S. airpower. But the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence, not a human pilot. And riding in the front seat was Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.

AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning for an AI-enabled fleet of more than 1,000 unmanned warplanes, the first of them operating by 2028.

It was fitting that the dogfight took place at Edwards Air Force Base, a vast desert facility where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound and the military has incubated its most secret aerospace advances. Inside classified simulators and buildings with layers of shielding against surveillance, a new test-pilot generation is training AI agents to fly in war. Kendall traveled here to see AI fly in real time and make a public statement of confidence in its future role in air combat.

“It’s a security risk not to have it. At this point, we have to have it,” Kendall said in an interview with The Associated Press after he landed. The AP, along with NBC, was granted permission to witness the secret flight on the condition that it would not be reported until it was complete because of operational security concerns.

The AI-controlled F-16, called Vista, flew Kendall in lightning-fast maneuvers at more than 550 miles an hour that put pressure on his body at five times the force of gravity. It went nearly nose to nose with a second human-piloted F-16 as both aircraft raced within 1,000 feet of each other, twisting and looping to try force their opponent into vulnerable positions.

At the end of the hourlong flight, Kendall climbed out of the cockpit grinning. He said he’d seen enough during his flight that he’d trust this still-learning AI with the ability to decide whether or not to launch weapons.

There’s a lot of opposition to that idea. Arms control experts and humanitarian groups are deeply concerned that AI one day might be able to autonomously drop bombs that kill people without further human consultation, and they are seeking greater restrictions on its use.

“There are widespread and serious concerns about ceding life-and-death decisions to sensors and software,” the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned. Autonomous weapons “are an immediate cause of concern and demand an urgent, international political response.”

The military’s shift to AI-enabled planes is driven by security, cost and strategic capability. If the U.S. and China should end up in conflict, for example, today's Air Force fleet of expensive, manned fighters will be vulnerable because of gains on both sides in electronic warfare, space and air defense systems. China’s air force is on pace to outnumber the U.S. and it is also amassing a fleet of flying unmanned weapons.

Future war scenarios envision swarms of American unmanned aircraft providing an advance attack on enemy defenses to give the U.S. the ability to penetrate an airspace without high risk to pilot lives. But the shift is also driven by money. The Air Force is still hampered by production delays and cost overruns in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will cost an estimated of $1.7 trillion.

Smaller and cheaper AI-controlled unmanned jets are the way ahead, Kendall said.

Vista’s military operators say no other country in the world has an AI jet like it, where the software first learns on millions of data points in a simulator, then tests its conclusions during actual flights. That real-world performance data is then put back into the simulator where the AI then processes it to learn more.

China has AI, but there’s no indication it has found a way to run tests outside a simulator. And, like a junior officer first learning tactics, some lessons can only be learned in the air, Vista’s test pilots said.

Until you actually fly, “it’s all guesswork,” chief test pilot Bill Gray said. “And the longer it takes you to figure that out, the longer it takes before you have useful systems.”

Vista flew its first AI-controlled dogfight in September 2023, and there have only been about two dozen similar flights since. But the programs are learning so quickly from each engagement that some AI versions getting tested on Vista are already beating human pilots in air-to-air combat.

The pilots at this base are aware that in some respects, they may be training their replacements or shaping a future construct where fewer of them are needed.

But they also say they would not want to be up in the sky against an adversary that has AI-controlled aircraft if the U.S. does not also have its own fleet.

“We have to keep running. And we have to run fast,” Kendall said.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall smiles after a test flight of the X-62A VISTA aircraft against a human-crewed F-16 aircraft in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The flight on the Artificial Intelligence-controlled VISTA is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, right, and Maj. Ryan Forystek, an X-62A VISTA Pilot for SecAF flight, climb into the cockpit of the X-62A VISTA aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The AI-controlled aircraft that flew Kendall served as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, right, talks to Col. James Valpiani, Commandant, USAF TPS, after Kendall's test flight of the X-62A VISTA aircraft against a human-crewed F-16 aircraft in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The flight is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Col. James Valpiani, Air Force Test Pilot School commandant, explains the Artificial Intelligence capabilities of the X-62A VISTA aircraft dogfighting on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The Artificial Intelligence-controlled flight, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

An Air Force mechanic checks the interior of the X-62A Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft, or VISTA, after it performed several AI flight tests in which AI agents piloted to perform advanced fighter maneuvers against a human-crewed F-16 aircraft in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The flight is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendal addresses the future role of Artificial Intelligence in air combat at USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The X-62A VISTA aircraft, an AI-controlled experimental F-16, flew Kendall in maneuvers that put 5Gs of pressure on his body at speeds exceeding 550 miles an hour. The flight is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The X-62A VISTA aircraft, an experimental AI-enabled Air Force F-16 fighter jet, takes off on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall riding in the front seat, is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall sits in the front cockpit of an X-62A VISTA aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The flight on the AI-controlled aircraft is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. Arms control experts and humanitarian groups are concerned that AI might one day be able to take lives autonomously and are seeking greater restrictions on its use. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

An AI-enabled Air Force F-16 fighter jet, left, flies next to an adversary F-16, as both aircraft race within 1,000 feet of each other, trying to force their opponent into vulnerable positions, on Thursday, May 2, 2024, above Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

This image from remote video released by the U.S. Air Force shows Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall during his experimental flight inside the cockpit of a X-62A VISTA aircraft autonomous warplane above Edwards Air Base, Calif, on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The AI-controlled flight is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. (United States Air Force Photo via AP)

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall sits in the front cockpit of an X-62A VISTA aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The flight on the Artificial Intelligence-controlled modified F-16, is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. Arms control experts and humanitarian groups are concerned that AI might one day be able to take lives autonomously and are seeking greater restrictions on its use. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)