[Chainmail]

Respectfully disagree. As it is now, emerging anti-air systems are making the skies untenable for manned systems. The technologies at hand or available soon will make entirely autonomous unmanned systems overwhelmingly capable. Air-to-air combat while carrying a delicate, pressure and temperature and atmosphere sensitive package that we have to worry about being killed or captured isn't going to be sustainable in the future battlefield.

We can't afford to be left behind the rest of the world, so we need to lose "humans will always be needed" attitude and press ahead. The glory days of Sopwiths and Hellcats and Raptors are almost over. It's going be similar stories for ground and sea combat too, so don't hang out at the O-club and whine.

It's that, or learn Mandarin.

[pfflier]

The technologies at hand or available soon will make entirely autonomous unmanned systems overwhelmingly capable

I take it from that comment that you are a staunch supporter of the F-35 the single airplane that now epitomizes use of your "overwhelmingly capable" technology.

[the OlLine Rebel]

There is always something impractical about advancing technology. Something that cannot be accounted for.

One thing that history has taught me, is never be too pessimistic (100 years ago “it’ll never happen”), or optimistic (now, “we can run anything on a wind turbine and it will cost nothing!”). Things never really change. They are only tweaked.