Lockheed Says F-35 Could Fly Pilotless

The Washington Post ^ | August 16, 2006 | Washington Post Staff Writer

[reagandemo]

Lockheed Martin Corp. has proposed an unmanned version of its Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35, which would make it the first full-scale fighter to operate without a pilot and signal the Bethesda weapons maker's push into the growing market for drone aircraft.

[reagandemo]

The options would still be there if not more. Instead of having to worry about things such his/her environment (G's) the pilot could be focused on the threat and adversary. It all comes down to how good is the interface.

[adorno]

The "pilot" could be safe on the ground in Edwards AFB flying by satellit remote. That's how the Predators are, I believe.......

Eventually, computer controlled aircraft will be sophisticated enough to not even need a remote human pilot. We'll have constant air surveillance or our skies and even foreign skies with computer controlled aircraft. Of course, there will be some human somewhere monitoring what the aircraft and computers are doing, but for the most part, those pilotless aircraft won't need much supervision.

[Little Ray]

Dunno.

Given the emphasis on cyberwarfare by the PRC, remote piloting offers them opportunity to jam or (very unlikely) take over the remotely piloted craft. The pilot is going to need to an unjammable connection to the airplane.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Maybe parts of it...

Well, let me put it this way. The only time I saw an officer getting his hands dirty was under the direct supervision of an enlisted person. When we were doing the prototype work on this aircraft's engines, I never saw an officer getting dirty.

[TommyDale]

Well, I know that the optical and laser portions are not for anyone with less than an EE.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Thanks to the Clintons, the PRC doing just that is a very likely scenario. Anti aircraft will go away from guns and missiles to electronic systems.

[Optimist]

I assume he is standing in front of a picture of the 35....otherwise it would appear to be "drone-size" already

[BadAndy]

"On this aircraft, the "pilot" could be just about anywhere."

What fighter pilot worth a damn would rather be flying his plane from a desk?

[stinkerpot65]

I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

[Red Badger]

Isaac Asimov wrote a short story decades ago about that eventuality. The armed forces aircraft of all nations were completely computer controlled. No nation could get an upper hand because all computers would fight to a draw, each computer anticipating the moves of the other's computer. Then the US got the novel idea of putting live pilots in each aircraft and the enemies computers could not anticipate the humans moves accurately because humans sometimes did illogical things..............

[Red Badger]

That's the Chinese version........smaller for smaller pilots........

[Blueflag]

He *is* in front of a photo of the aircraft.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Beets me, I just posted the pick from the article.

[Philistone]

I think the point is that the reason fighter jets are so expensive (and limited in performance) is because there is a human being in the loop. Much cheaper to redesign a pilot-less fighter from the ground up.

[HEY4QDEMS]

pick = pic

[Red Badger]

No windshield, no pedals and sticks, no dashboard instrumentation, no heads-up displays, and all the wiring and maintenance associated with it............

[monkapotamus]

[Centurion2000]

Imagine a pilot in another aircraft controlling this one.

Or imagine a 747 full of pilots controlling a wing of these babies with laser communications.

[Optimist]

I assumed so, but with the spotlights in the pic from behind it is deceiving ... and an interesting concept

[Red Badger]

I loved that movie!

LIZARD MAN: Time for "The Death Flower" tactic!

HUMAN TEEN: Will it work?

LIZARD MAN: I don't know, we've never used it!.......