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To: af_vet_rr
I'm not trying to expand the topic into what definese air superiority since the definition has broadend over the years .....

Well, let's say it's what happens at 55,000 feet over the FEBA and go from there.

What's going to happen when you send UAV's and they send J-20's and Su-30MKK's to the party? I wouldn't even like a contest between your UAV's and a squadron of Gen 3 airframes like the J-7/8/8C (=MiG 21) "Fishbed"/"Finback".

...if we can dump in cruise missiles at will....

Against swarms of AWACS-directed older fighters armed with IR-seeking AAM's? Don't think so.

At some point you have to clear enough of the airspace you're going to be fighting in, to let the cruise weapons do their jobs. You have to clear it with manned fighters, because UAV's are not gonna git 'er done.

16 posted on 03/06/2012 4:19:08 AM PST by lentulusgracchus
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To: lentulusgracchus
What's going to happen when you send UAV's and they send J-20's and Su-30MKK's to the party? I wouldn't even like a contest between your UAV's and a squadron of Gen 3 airframes like the J-7/8/8C (=MiG 21) "Fishbed"/"Finback".

So what if they send manned fighters to the party? While they are playing with our drones, unless we have complete and total idiots running our military, we're going to be removing the airfields/resupply areas those aircraft rely upon. Besides, those drones will have the same missiles that our manned fighters use, and the days of large-scale gun-on-gun engagements are long past. By the time the J-20s are deployed in large numbers, we'll have jumped ahead another generation or two in UAV technology. And like you said, the J-20s and even future Su30s have a serious problem: Rule One of electronics on expeditions and missions: Half your sh&t doesn't work any more, the minute you leave the end of your driveway/clear the jetties/clear the runway. .

Those complex aircraft are also going to find themselves grounded by our cruise missiles and other single-purpose weapons.

If anything, even as some UAVs get more complex, there is also work being done on smaller single-purpose UAVs - UAVs to engage in air-to-air combat, stealthy UAVs loitering around and waiting for enemy aircraft to return to their field, UAVs loitering around waiting for somebody to turn on a radar, etc. etc.

Modern manned aircraft with complex weapons systems are far too reliant upon their repair and resupply facilities. Far too reliant. The Chinese have good reason to get into the carrier game, but even that's risky as hell.
20 posted on 03/06/2012 1:27:59 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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