Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
That's my point. Dog-fighting and air to air superiority is not really a vital capability in todays' world. We are not under threat from other fighters or bombers. Canada's theatres of operation don't require dog-fighting either. Drones suit our mission much better. The only reason that Predator drones don't travel as fast or are not as manueverable as jets is that the current ones are not designed for that purpose. Drones can concievably be much faster and agile than jets because there is no limitation in keeping a pilot conscious. Drones are not automated, they are flown by pilots remotely which have full access to audio and visual information. They have as much situational awareness as the technology that is integrated can provide them which is about the same amount of data that a modern helmet mounted HUD and avionics system can. It's not the cold war anymore, that's why the US stopped F-22 production as well.
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The counter to your argument is that each and every war is different. Todays lesser requirement in terms of dog fighting could be tommorrows requirements for dogfighting, and you don't really want to cast away nerely 100 years of piloting warfare experience.
I know that Pilots are flown remotely, and talking to people who have flown both fighters and flown drones from the ground there is no comparison. Human Pilots in the air in the glass cockpit with entire emmersion in their environment with sound, sight and estimation are superior pilots and tend to get more out of their machines.