I don't trust those unmanned thingies. I guess I'm old fashioned. Nothing can replace the five pound shoulder mounted computer.
What happens when you lose that X47 data link? I know you can go autonomous but can it differentiate between a school bus full of kids or one filled with Jihadists?
“True about the Bone but it was sidelined during Desert Storm with reliability issues. We never got to see its true potential.”
I know it was used at least somewhat in Iraq, as one of the attempted strikes against Uday was from a B-1. At any rate, one hopes that across the board modernization would contribute to state of the art reliability. I know the F-22 and F-35 are touted as being good in that area.
“I don’t trust those unmanned thingies. I guess I’m old fashioned. Nothing can replace the five pound shoulder mounted computer.”
You apparently “trust” those newfangled unmanned cruise missiles. ;-)
“What happens when you lose that X47 data link? I know you can go autonomous but can it differentiate between a school bus full of kids or one filled with Jihadists?”
While I’m sure the X-47 is “man in the loop” capable, it’s primary role is autonomous. As I said before, it can perform about the same role as a cruise missile, just with the added benefit of re-use.
It should be pointed out that not even a an A-10 pilot at low altitude could tell a bus full of terrorists from one with kids. I seem to recall an A-10 destroying friendly forces in Iraq with a strafing run - and they were in full view.
Even with a drone, if there are folks on the ground designating the target they could call off the strike or redirect it as needed if circumstances dictate.
Regardless, Merry Christmas, and thanks for an interesting conversation!