[Physicist]

Air to Air Combat will likely always require a man, because you could probably never duplicate SA (Situational Awareness) with a computer.

Prediction: inside of 15 years, there will be no more fighter pilots. The machines will be too cheap and too lethal. Whether or not machine pilots are the "equal" of human pilots by that time (they will be eventually), the survivability of a combat mission will drop to something very low.

[Pukin Dog]

15 years? Not a chance. The machines will be too expensive, have too many problems mechanically, be found to be subject to jamming of their control signals by the smarter nations, and so on. Survivability of a combat mission rarely has anything to do with the vehicle used, but of the men using it. The only aircraft with technology proven in combat to enhance survivability are Steath aircraft.

When I got hold of my first fighter, it was considered to be the most dangerous aircraft to go against ever built. 23 years later, that same aircraft is still the most dangerous, (although the F-22 is promising) though soon to be phased out of service. If in 23 years, the Services have yet to build an weapon that can defeat the Tomcat/Phoenix, I doubt fighter pilots have anything to worry about for the next 30-35 years, when the next generation fighters are retired.