From Our Magazines
America's Civil War American History Armchair General Aviation History British Heritage Civil War Times MHQ Military History Vietnam Wild West World War IIMore On The Website
All History Topics Classifieds Partner Links Civil War Sesquicentennial
Our History Magazines
Order America's Civil War Order American History Order Aviation History Order British Heritage Order Civil War Times Order Military History Order MHQ Order Vietnam Order Wild West Order World War II Order Armchair GeneralSubscriber Services
Order a Subscription Give a Gift Renew Get Subscription Help
Loading ...
Until they can come up with a 10+ G pilot the future of atmospheric flight belongs to RPG/APG aircraft.
I hope not. The recent loss of that stealth spy plane proves the point…a remote pilot cannot react the same way as a pilot on site. that would have never happened had there been a pilot onboard. I understand it was a smallish remotely controlled aircraft, and better to lose a machine than a pilot, but no robotic aircraft will ever be able to perform at the level a manned aircraft in so far as being able to react to the situation.
Unlikely. Unmanned aircraft comes packaged complete with their own sets of weaknesses that a savvy enemy can exploit. Autonomous airplanes will only be as good as the people that program them, so their tactical flexibility in any given situation is questionable. Remote controlled aircraft are only as reliable as the signal that links them to their pilots, which suggest that the countermeasures against them might be a lot cheaper than the weapon system itself. Robotic warfare adds a new dimension to the battlefield, but I hardly think it's going to replace anything that is already on it, either in the near future or afterward.
So far, at least, it seems RPVs saved us a lot of logistics and POWs.