Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
A Mirage 2000 fighter jet of the French Air Force takes off.
Hard Numbers: France sends jets to Ukraine, Black women suffer higher maternal mortality, Ismailis get new Aga Khan, Football fans get ready to rumble
6 of 26: The French Air Force delivered the first batch of Mirage 2000 fighter jets promised to Ukraine. According to a budget report, France was to transfer six of its 26 Mirage 2000-5 aircraft, but the Elysee will neither confirm nor deny the number “for security reasons.” France also reportedly trained Ukrainian pilots and mechanics to operate the planes.
3.5: Black women in the US died at a rate nearly 3.5 times higher than white women during childbirth in 2023, according to new data released this week. While maternal mortality overall fell below pre-pandemic levels, racial gaps widened. The maternal death rate for Hispanic and Asian American women fell from 17 to 12 and 13 to 11 (deaths per 100,000 live births), respectively, and the rate for white women dropped from 19 to 14.5, but the rate of Black maternal death rose from 49.5 to just above 50.
50: Following the death of the Aga Khan on Tuesday, his eldest son, Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini, has been named the 50th hereditary spiritual leader of the world’s 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims. Like his father, Prince Rahim is considered a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
116.8 million: Are you ready for some football? A whopping 116.8 million viewers are expected to tune in to Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles. But the big numbers aren’t just on the screen: Locally, the event is expected to generate $76.3 million in spending in New Orleans: $66.1 million for accommodations, $8.6 million in restaurants, and $1.6 million on transportation. That’s a lot of beer and chicken wings.
An F-16 Viper flies overhead during the Thunder Over Louisville airshow on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
The military jet that acts alone
The US Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, aka DARPA, have been tinkering with the latest aerial weapons. On April 17, DARPA confirmed that in military exercises with the Air Force last year, an AI-controlled jet was pitted against a human pilot in an in-air dogfight simulation.
The Air Force installed its autonomous pilot system in a modified F-16 relabelled as the X-62A back in 2021. Humans were aboard the autonomous aircraft during the dogfight experiment, with the ability to take control if necessary. The military didn’t specify whether the autonomous X-62A or the human-piloted opponent, an F-16 jet, “won” the duel, which took place in September 2023, though it did say the test was a success.
“The potential for autonomous air-to-air combat has been imaginable for decades, but the reality has remained a distant dream up until now,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall wrote in a statement. “This is a transformational moment.”
As we’ve written previously, militaries around the world are gearing up for autonomous warfare, with weapons systems able to identify and take out specific targets. The United Nations has meanwhile called the use of autonomous weapons on human targets a “moral line that we must not cross,” a signal that there will be a drumbeat of public criticism as the US and other militaries expand and deploy their AI-powered weapons.