Message posted by Chris McDowell on March 29, 2007 at 0:48:30 PST:
The UCAVs are going to continue to have a more and more prominent role in future warfare, but they will never completely replace human pilots. I think we'll see them used for fixed, high-value, heavily defended ground targets for the most part (much the same as the F-117 is used today). But for such things as S&D, SEAD, and close air support, you really need a human pilot, who can make decisions and judgement calls based on what he/she encounters on the mission, not just a list of "If...Then" instructions preprogrammed into a computer. The unexpected will always occur, and only a human can deal with that. A machine, no matter how complex, will ultimately be predictable, and if it's predictable, a human will beat it. Now, I know what some are about to say -- some UCAVs do have human pilots (like the Predator), but I just can't believe a remote pilot can have the same level of SA that a pilot in the cockpit will have. Just my opinion, of course. Chris M.
In Reply to: SR 71 replacement? posted by Alex (UK) on March 27, 2007 at 12:21:30 PST:
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