“The air superiority fighter of the future will be unmanned, stealthier, lighter, faster and able to perform high-G maneuvers that would turn a human pilor into jelly.”
Demonstrating ignorance. High-G maneuvers have NOTHING to do with air superiority. Period.
That fact has been Proven many times since Airplanes first went to war. What wins in air-to-air combat is better situational awareness. That and speed. ALL the top aces had exceptional eyesight and the ability to keep track of many things at once.
Most kills were accomplished by seeing the enemy first, using superior speed to get into a position to kill them by shooting them in the back. The furball is for deadmen. Boom and Zoom is what wins.
Wanna see what happens when an unmanned aircraft meets a manned aircraft;
It doesn’t matter how many weapons you hang off the UACV. When it doesn’t know or care if the Mig is there it is an easy kill. My Uncle was flying with the first F-15 Squadron when they were testing cruise missiles. As he pointed out, a target drone is a target drone, it matters not how fast it is, how tight it turns, or what is hanging off the wing.
Then there is the political issue. No politician will vote to spend money on a robot that thinks for itself, which is what an UACV will have to do to compete with a manned fighter. If you really think a politician is going to give you billions to build Cylons, you have been at the koolaid to long.
The whole UACV thingie is a way for the MIC to rip off more billions of taxpayer dollars.
The ONLY way to detect a B-2 before it gets to it’s weapons release point is visual. With the Mk1 eyeball from a fighter flying at a greater altitude. The F-22 is the escort fighter that can keep that from happening. Sort of the B-17 & P-51 combo redone.
