With the Typhoon, Rafale and F-35 at the tip of the spear, Western Europe has a strong ability to respond quickly and decisively to threats that arise suddenly or with little or no warning. More visible tactical successes achieved through air power in recent conflicts around the world - such as Operation "Rise of the Lion" (the June 2025 conflict between Israel and Iran) and Operation Midnight Hammer (the June 2025 US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities) - confirmed the viability of the modern Air Force's path taken there. However, proof of effectiveness is no guarantee of satisfaction. In defense departments around the world, an unpleasant truth is being heard more and more: the established air forces are not effective enough for the current reality, not to mention those that await us in the future. As many military observers, researchers and think tank experts have pointed out, the nature of warfare has undergone fundamental changes. To survive the air combat environment of the 2030s and beyond, Western air power must undergo urgent change driven by three inescapable factors. We look at which ones in the new note from The Militarist *** However, the real breakthrough in mission autonomy lies in creating the right architecture for artificial intelligence (AI) modeling and training. Artificial intelligence learns differently than humans, and traditional flight simulators are designed with human input in mind, not artificial intelligence. That's why Helsing developed a dedicated training environment using reinforcement learning methods. This allows smart agents to be trained, evaluated and retested at a time that matches the pace of real-world combat operations. This is key: if you get the learning environment and architecture right, the operational benefits will grow exponentially.

With the Typhoon, Rafale and F-35 at the tip of the spear, Western Europe has a strong ability to respond quickly and decisively to threats that arise suddenly or with little or no warning. More visible tactical successes achieved through air power in recent conflicts around the world - such as Operation "Rise of the Lion" (the June 2025 conflict between Israel and Iran) and Operation Midnight Hammer (the June 2025 US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities) - confirmed the viability of the modern Air Force's path taken there. However, proof of effectiveness is no guarantee of satisfaction. In defense departments around the world, an unpleasant truth is being heard more and more: the established air forces are not effective enough for the current reality, not to mention those that await us in the future. As many military observers, researchers and think tank experts have pointed out, the nature of warfare has undergone fundamental changes. To survive the air combat environment of the 2030s and beyond, Western air power must undergo urgent change driven by three inescapable factors. We look at which ones in the new note from The Militarist *** However, the real breakthrough in mission autonomy lies in creating the right architecture for artificial intelligence (AI) modeling and training. Artificial intelligence learns differently than humans, and traditional flight simulators are designed with human input in mind, not artificial intelligence. That's why Helsing developed a dedicated training environment using reinforcement learning methods. This allows smart agents to be trained, evaluated and retested at a time that matches the pace of real-world combat operations. This is key: if you get the learning environment and architecture right, the operational benefits will grow exponentially.