NEW YORK, June 24 /TASS/. The United States has successfully tested a new aircraft designed to support nuclear weapons testing, Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the US Department of Energy, told Fox News.

According to Williams, the aircraft, known as Aires Tide, is intended to demonstrate how the United States plans to use artificial intelligence to move faster in nuclear weapons production and nuclear stockpile stewardship.

Fox News reported that the aircraft was developed to simulate the extreme temperatures and vibrations experienced by a nuclear warhead during flight.

The broadcaster noted that NNSA specialists used artificial intelligence and 3D-printing technologies in the aircraft's development. Williams argued that the use of these technologies makes the Aires Tide project comparable in significance to the Manhattan Project, under which the United States developed nuclear weapons in the 1940s.