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To: Wiz

Better get used to it, because the next generation will likely have no pilot aboard but fly them virtually instead.


3 posted on 06/19/2005 2:56:24 PM PDT by SteveMcKing
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To: SteveMcKing

Let's have virtual movie actors and actresses too! We'd miss the pilots but not hollywood.


4 posted on 06/19/2005 3:03:21 PM PDT by cubreporter (I trust Rush. He has done more for this country than any of us will ever know! :))
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To: SteveMcKing

Actually UAV's are unsuitable for air combat due to latency.

Any control facility close enough to the front is a target (a nice big central one), anything far enough to be safe is far enough so that the signal is going to be delayed by fractions of a second. A second round trip for the information means that the controller would see the world on a one second delay, and the UAV would simply not be able to react.

The best compromise is to maintain manned fighters to keep a man in the loop, but use UAV's as cheap platforms to ferry additional rounds and Bombs in as his "squires". The squires would also be able to leverage countermeasures against enemy defenses and could be programmed to self-intercept any fatal enemy shots.


5 posted on 06/19/2005 3:03:25 PM PDT by Katana16j
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