According to the Strateg Page, the first squadron of manned F-16's have been fully replaced by unmanned Reapers.
According to Strategy Page, the Reaper can stay in the air for up to 14 hours over target, carries the same payloads and costs a third of the price of an F-16. And, don't forget the life of a pilot that is safely ensconsed back in Las Vegas or someplace slightly closer.
There are a few issues to keep in mind when contemplating an all out electronic army of robots controlled by satellite radio relay. Primarily, your satellite could go down and so could your command and control. Neither would you want, nor would robots be able to, make decisions on the ground or in the air like a human soldier/pilot. Which means, if your comms go dark, so does your war.
Which, in the long run, means that, whatever our technological advancements, we should neither take human compassion out nor human reasoning.
Heh. Why do I have the opening scenes from the original Terminator running through my mind?
Ace of Spades
August 11, 2008: The U.S. Air Force is, for the first time, converting a fighter wing from manned (F-16) combat aircraft, to unmanned ones (the MQ-9 Reaper.) The conversion, for the 174th Fighter Wing, has been in the works for three years, and the last combat sorties in manned aircraft were flown last week, by members of the 174th serving in Iraq.
According to Strategy Page, the Reaper can stay in the air for up to 14 hours over target, carries the same payloads and costs a third of the price of an F-16. And, don't forget the life of a pilot that is safely ensconsed back in Las Vegas or someplace slightly closer.
There are a few issues to keep in mind when contemplating an all out electronic army of robots controlled by satellite radio relay. Primarily, your satellite could go down and so could your command and control. Neither would you want, nor would robots be able to, make decisions on the ground or in the air like a human soldier/pilot. Which means, if your comms go dark, so does your war.
Which, in the long run, means that, whatever our technological advancements, we should neither take human compassion out nor human reasoning.
Heh. Why do I have the opening scenes from the original Terminator running through my mind?
Ace of Spades
Has anyone else heard this?
Now we will see what happens.
You can't fly those drones in the presence of enemy fighters, at least not if you want them to stay airborne for very long.
What a boondoggle.