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Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown says the service is seriously considering building a fighter fleet with more drones than piloted aircraft.
In response to my question during today’s McAleese defense conference about whether he sees the balance of piloted and uninhabited combat aircraft shifting toward drones in the future, Brown said simply: “I do.”
Such a shift in fleet structure is something the service has looked at in its Futures Game, led by Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote, deputy chief for requirements. That war game was held last fall. (Colleague Valerie Insinna detailed the China-focused 2030 scenario last month.)
“Part of our analysis in that war game was to take a look at the mixture of manned platforms and unmanned platforms,” Brown said. “So, what does a future fighter squadron look like, you know, how many airplanes does it have versus how many unmanned platforms does it have? And then, how do you train differently as you do this?”
In response to my question during today’s McAleese defense conference about whether he sees the balance of piloted and uninhabited combat aircraft shifting toward drones in the future, Brown said simply: “I do.”
Such a shift in fleet structure is something the service has looked at in its Futures Game, led by Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote, deputy chief for requirements. That war game was held last fall. (Colleague Valerie Insinna detailed the China-focused 2030 scenario last month.)
“Part of our analysis in that war game was to take a look at the mixture of manned platforms and unmanned platforms,” Brown said. “So, what does a future fighter squadron look like, you know, how many airplanes does it have versus how many unmanned platforms does it have? And then, how do you train differently as you do this?”
Air Force May Tilt To Drones: CSAF Brown
Posted from breakingdefense.com
Drones
Defense
Aviation
Combat
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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Interesting! Keep hearing about pilot shortages so wondered if this would happen!
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SrA John Monette
a drone can't do what a live pilot can, though. a pilot can act unexpectedly, which is what is needed to survive
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
Depends on your definition of pilots, those drones still require a "pilot".
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PO1 Steve Ditto
I was talking about in the planes, not where they would be safe half a world away in a safe building.
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