Aussie Joe, believe in pilot dave. A current F-22 fighter can sweep every UAV out of the sky before it and the remote ground controllers (they’re NOT pilots)even know they are a mort. And the F-22 jock won’t even be pulling 2 Gs. The slaughter stops only when the F-22 runs out of ammo.
There won’t be any 30 G dogfights. You don’t understand how fighter tactics work. You are dreaming or reading too many Popular Science articles if you think a narrow mission drone can operate in anything other than a non-threatening environment. The (limited) success of drones in the Middle East is only happening because we own the sky and the drones face no defenses. The Chinese will not be so cooperative. All those fancy toys, without US air cover, will have less longevity than a clay pidgeon in Sarah Palin’s back yard.
“A current F-22 fighter can sweep every UAV out of the sky before it and the remote ground controllers (they’re NOT pilots)even know they are a mort.”
What makes them so devastatingly effective? is it the weapons systems, i.e. BVR missilies & radar? ...does integration with other battlefield systems e.g. long range radar like AWACS (do they still have AWACS?) feeding them info on enemy positions play a significant role? Do they still; have guns for close-in digfighting, and do the pilots train for that possibility?