Yowsa - sunset time

[Affentitten]

By Noltyboy

Yes, what is clearly needed in low level conflicts is a bunch of autonomous trigger happy UAV's flying over hot spots.

We've already got autonomous trigger happy pilots flying over hot spots. As any number of Afghan wedding guests, Reuters journalists and British squaddies will testify.

Besides which, low level conflicts and air-to-air dominance are not congruent. To the best of my knowledge, not a single fixed wing aircraft has been lost in the air to enemy fire during the 8 years now of Afghanistan. Too high. Too fast. No competition.

[Noltyboy]

We've already got autonomous trigger happy pilots flying over hot spots. As any number of Afghan wedding guests, Reuters journalists and British squaddies will testify.

Besides which, low level conflicts and air-to-air dominance are not congruent. To the best of my knowledge, not a single fixed wing aircraft has been lost in the air to enemy fire during the 8 years now of Afghanistan. Too high. Too fast. No competition.

I think you are being slightly disingenuous to those providing CAS in afghanistan, 99.9% of the 1000's of missions provided every year go without a hitch.

But the widespread proliferation of 4th Gen fighters and high end SAM systems means we cant just sit on our hands. Who say's we wont need to deal with something like that in ten years time.

[Affentitten]

I think you are being slightly disingenuous to those providing CAS in afghanistan, 99.9% of the 1000's of missions provided every year go without a hitch.

As I expect 99% of unmanned missions would as well. My point being that a human pilot is not proof against mistakes. And in some cases may actually be more prone to them.

But the widespread proliferation of 4th Gen fighters and high end SAM systems means we cant just sit on our hands. Who say's we wont need to deal with something like that in ten years time.

If you're worried about a threat in 10 years time you're already too late to start designing your next manned fighter!

[Noltyboy]

As I expect 99% of unmanned missions would as well. My point being that a human pilot is not proof against mistakes. And in some cases may actually be more prone to them.

If you're worried about a threat in 10 years time you're already too late to start designing your next manned fighter!

Very likely, but a human is able to make choices about what to do and how to do it. The same ability in a robot is likely a long time away.

Your correct and i think i had misread your previous post when i posted to that part above.

[dieseltaylor]

There is a difference I think between drones run from the ground and air-superiority fighters where the human touch is more applicable to the former.

Making that distinction helps to frame the differences. BTW I was reading an article today which says the US Army has spent $20B on the UAV concept, research and purchasing.

Drone Makers: If America’s wars are eternal field laboratories for new weaponry, then the grand winners of the latest round of wars are the drone makers. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the jewel in the crown of Southern California’s drone industry, now employs 10,000 workers and runs double shifts in, as W.J. Hennigan of the Los Angeles Times writes, a “fast-growing business… fueled by Pentagon spending -- at least $20 billion since 2001 -- and billions more chipped in by the CIA and Congress.” Washington has been plunking down more than $5 billion a year for its drone purchases, the development of future drone technology, and the carrying out of 24/7 robot assassination campaigns as well as a full-scale Terminator war in the Pakistani borderlands. These “precision” weapons are capable of taking out people, including civilians in the vicinity, from thousands of miles away. The drones themselves -- termed by CIA Director Leon Panetta “the only game in town” when it comes to stopping al-Qaeda -- turn out to be capable of settling nothing. For every bad guy they kill, they kill civilians as well, seeding new enemies in what is essentially a war to create future terrorists. But that hardly matters. Terminator wars are hot and the drone, as a product, is definitely a global winner. Not only are American companies starting to export the craft to allies willing to pay in global hotspots, but other countries are lining up to create drone industries of their own. Expect the friendly skies to continue to fill.

http://www.alternet.org/world/148701/american_empire_produces_11_global_winners_--_hint%3A_they_aren%27t_the_good_guys_?page=entire