Will The Next Generation Of Top Guns Be Gamer Geeks?

Fast Company ^ | 2/8/2011 | Kit Eaton

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The next generation of Top Guns may be gamer geeks. That's because the X-47B just took its very first flight, heralding a whole new era of military flying--automatic or remote-piloted, stealthy, deadly combat aircraft.

Technically the X-47B is an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), but what it really is is an evolution of those Global Hawk and Predator drone aircraft that made the Iraq War look like a computer game when viewed at the military's tech hubs, mixed in with the same kind of stealth technology that makes the B-2 Spirit bomber such a powerful, frightening tool of force projection.

Borrowing from decades of flying wing research, the X-47B is a sleek flying wedge of engines and electronics that's all but invisible to radar, and hard to lock on to with infrared missiles. It's capable of taking off automatically, flying to a location by itself, scanning the scene with a variety of sensors, and then--when commanded to do so by remote pilots--dropping precision-guided weapons on a target, before flying home to an air base or an aircraft carrier.

Essentially this is the first of the successors to the revolutionary F-35, taking to the air as a prototype before the F-35 is even in service, because the X-47B is likely to be the model for future military aircraft, due to one crucial fact: Fragile human pilots are no longer needed. During combat, the loss of a military aircraft is a technological and fiscal blow, but the loss of a pilot is far worse--personally it's a loss, politically it's terrible, and financially it's a disaster, since pilots cost millions of dollars to train and keep flight-ready.

[gman992]

They say this about every technological advance when it comes to war, and they are always wrong...you are still going to need boots on the ground to hold it and defeat your enemy.

[Sparticus]

[Bryanw92]

This story is about replacing fighter pilots and a plane that can pull more G’s than a human can stand, not infantrymen.

[RedStateRocker]

You’re always going to need ground pounders; boots brains and brawn to hold and secure area. Robots, drones, remotely piloted vehicles will all have a part to play, but outside of sterilizing an area the only way to control it is to have some presence comprised of individuals capable of responding to unforeseen circumstances. There’s no way you could build an autonomous machine that a Taliban, Vietcong or good ol’ boy couldn’t figure out how to circumvent and destroy.

I still think Heinlein nailed it best in Starship Troopers.

It would be ironic, though, if the kids who spent their youth playing Xbox end up being the Top Guns of the next decade.

[Yo-Yo]

That’s making the [incorrect] assumption that the current generation of “Top Guns” aren’t gamer geeks already.

[Goldsborough]

While 'tis true that infantry soldiers will likely never go out of style, removing the pilot from the cockpit is becoming increasingly feasible. Technology will probably soon serve to make the simulator the combat information center of a sophisticated air superiority or ground attack drone.

Without the need for the human physically aboard the aircraft, the plane can be made to perform turns and changes in acceleration that would reduce a human into a blacked out puddle of flesh. Time on station could be increased. The plane could be lighter and smaller profiled, but just as capable or more so, as the need to design around the human and his support systems vanishes. The benefits could be enormous.

[originalbuckeye]

I'd say that lots of the new Top Guns ARE Gamer Geeks. We allowed our son to play Nintendo, Playstation, etc, because it really does improve hand-eye coordination. You just have to limit the amount of time and make sure they do other things too, like sports/music/etc. Our son is now in training to be a Marine Aviator.

[Yo-Yo]

This story is about replacing fighter pilots and a plane that can pull more G’s than a human can stand, not infantrymen.

At best you're not replacing the fighter pilot, you're simply relocating him.

Missiles can pull more Gs than any UAV, and remote operation is too great a single point of failure to take the fighter pilot out of the cockpit. A ground support UAV that needs to circle for 24 hours at a time, sure. But not for air dominance.

[dljordan]

“They say this about every technological advance when it comes to war, and they are always wrong...you are still going to need boots on the ground to hold it and defeat your enemy.”

We’ve got many “gamer geeks” where I work. They are amorphous blobs of quivering Jello, meek, cowardly and easily confused in the real world.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

But they meaning that they will be piloting drones(X-47,X-37) in a air conditioned room at Langley or in the Pentagon. Gamers are already piloting planes but thrust of the article is emphasizing pilotless planes

[Red Badger]

But they would probably be great remote fighter pilots!.......

[USNBandit]

There is a difference between kids that play video games and kids that can only play video games.

[originalbuckeye]

Judging from my son’s friends, the actual pilots are Gamer Geeks, too!

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Hey, I landed a plane on a carrier simulator and it was my first time.Collected $300

[Safrguns]

Where do I apply???

Safrgun's "Animal"

Jet-Eye Tanker School

[jakerobins]

[originalbuckeye]

Congrats!

[mcshot]

Awesome.

[flamberge]

With control software programmed for autonomous hunter-killer operation, a few units could absolutely dominate local airspace for as long as they have fuel - and without requiring any pilot attention. They would not even require active communication links during the patrol.

Without need for the weight of a pilot life support system, the next generation of UAVs could be designed to detect and outmaneuver ground-launched missiles.

What could possibly go wron-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g?