And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Mayhaps. But they'll never replace the thrill of actual flight. I runa fully loaded multiscreen flight sim, but being in the air is a "I can't wait moment.
Many potential countries (Pakistan, N Korea, Iran) can detonate rockets in space with the goal of creating a debris field that would destroy all satellites. That’s why we need some manned aircraft, even if its purpose is to guide a bunch of drones into target.
The cheap, disposable drones that we see in Ukraine are slow and have a very short range. Stealthy supersonic drones will be nearly as expensive as the F35. And a near-peer opponent may be able to jam remote control of a drone.
I think supersonic stealth drones will be much much cheaper than manned fighters, especially the incredibly expensive F35. Agree about jamming, that's the Achilles heel.
Using drones against a non-technologically-sophisticated opponent like the Taliban is one thing. Using them against China, for instance, could be another matter entirely.
I love Elon but there is still a big leap to be made from existing drones to the capabilities of the current manned fleet - and those are being worked. No doubt DoD acquisition could be supercharged tho.
From day one, design, development and sustaining fighters has pretty much revolved around pilot recruitment, survivability and retention. So it's naturally it's a big ticket undertaking. Then there's a raft of pesky human factors. Sure takes any pleasure out of the mission.
CW, I hope I'm not transgressing. The rest of you folk should read this. Germany has given Ukraine 4000 AI enabled drones. "This is the type of AI that all leading experts have warned us about. German defense firm Helsing has announced it will provide Ukraine with 4,000 HX-2 “Karma” kamikaze drones this month. Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he had been “very pleased that the delivery of these drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology is already underway.”
Here's the link: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/war/kamikaze-ai-drones-released-on-russian-troops/
Mayhaps. But they'll never replace the thrill of actual flight. I runa fully loaded multiscreen flight sim, but being in the air is a "I can't wait moment.
ReplyDeleteMany potential countries (Pakistan, N Korea, Iran) can detonate rockets in space with the goal of creating a debris field that would destroy all satellites. That’s why we need some manned aircraft, even if its purpose is to guide a bunch of drones into target.
ReplyDeleteThe cheap, disposable drones that we see in Ukraine are slow and have a very short range. Stealthy supersonic drones will be nearly as expensive as the F35. And a near-peer opponent may be able to jam remote control of a drone.
ReplyDeleteI think supersonic stealth drones will be much much cheaper than manned fighters, especially the incredibly expensive F35. Agree about jamming, that's the Achilles heel.
DeleteUsing drones against a non-technologically-sophisticated opponent like the Taliban is one thing. Using them against China, for instance, could be another matter entirely.
DeleteFor certain values of “soon.”
ReplyDeleteI love Elon but there is still a big leap to be made from existing drones to the capabilities of the current manned fleet - and those are being worked. No doubt DoD acquisition could be supercharged tho.
Most of the costly engineering and design limitations of fighters is to support the meat sack hanging on to the controls
ReplyDeleteWindows pressurization systems O2 system ejection seats display systems.
Limitation of g-forces because the meat sack can't handle it.
All that goes away when a drone is engineered to be a fighter
Eliminating the pilot definitely saves weight and cost, but most of the jet is the same either way, with the engines, fuel, and sensor packages.
DeleteFrom day one, design, development and sustaining fighters has pretty much revolved around pilot recruitment, survivability and retention. So it's naturally it's a big ticket undertaking. Then there's a raft of pesky human factors. Sure takes any pleasure out of the mission.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Iran commandeer a US drone about 10 years ago? Keep the pilot in the cockpit.
ReplyDeleteCW, I hope I'm not transgressing.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of you folk should read this. Germany has given Ukraine 4000 AI enabled drones.
"This is the type of AI that all leading experts have warned us about. German defense firm Helsing has announced it will provide Ukraine with 4,000 HX-2 “Karma” kamikaze drones this month. Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he had been “very pleased that the delivery of these drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology is already underway.”
Here's the link: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/war/kamikaze-ai-drones-released-on-russian-troops/