40 automated drones can do a much better job of locating and pinning the enemy down for a potential kill than relying on satelitte observation that will be shot down early in the next global war and a single manned pilot.
Won’t that drone be recieving its commands from that satelitte also?
Automated how? No operator?
... can do a much better job of locating and pinning the enemy down for a potential kill than relying on satelitte observation that will be shot down early in the next global war and a single manned pilot.
Actually the UAVs are as much if not more dependent on our GPS/NAVSATs than our manned aircraft. And the cost ratio is not 40 to one. Not even close to that cheap. E.g., Global Hawk is one of 25 military systems whose unit cost increased by more than 50 percent from their original estimate. Each plane is $15 million. And they come in units of four. An F-22 can currently be bought for about $120 million flyaway unit cost.
And if we get serious about procurement...we can realize real savings.