The US Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California is using an artificial intelligence tool to cut the time needed to draft flight test documents from weeks to minutes.
The tool, known as the AI Flight Test Assistant (AFTA), was developed at the Air Force Test Center (AFTC). It generates first drafts of test plans, hazard analyses, evaluation frameworks and technical reports that support the flight test process.
“The AI Flight Test Assistant is a cloud-based tool that uses generative AI to augment labor-intensive test and evaluation processes,” said Jordan Conner, AFTC AI implementation lead. “Initially it was just a document generator, but now it functions as a no-code workflow editor where users can build their own custom AI-automated processes.”
At the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC), one tester built a custom workflow that automated the generation of operational test measures. The task previously required more than 20 hours of manual work; AFTA produced the first draft in under two hours with less than five minutes of initial human input.
A user at the 96th Test Wing built a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) document generator in under 10 minutes using AFTA’s workflow editor. The tool can now produce a first draft of a ROM document in under a minute, work that previously required several people working for hours.
More than 800 users across the Department of the Air Force are experimenting with AFTA, with more than 30 organizations building custom workflows. The platform ranked first in a poll of government attendees at this year’s AFOTEC AI Technology Showcase.
AFTA differs from conversational AI tools such as GenAI.mil. It follows predefined processes and policies to generate consistent, repeatable outputs that engineers review and refine before the documents move forward.
Maj. Gen. Scott Cain, commander of the Air Force Test Center, said accelerating testing helps maintain operational advantage.
“Speed matters,” Cain said. “Our ability to test, learn, and adapt faster than potential adversaries allows us to deliver credible capability to the warfighter. Tools that help our engineers move faster while maintaining rigorous testing standards are critical to that effort.”
“AI will get you to a strong first draft,” said Conner. “But humans are always in the loop. Engineers must still review, edit, and validate everything before it moves forward, just as they would without the help of AI.”
