Autonomous Fighter Jet Presages End of Manned Flight

Well, this was inevitable. From the first moment drones took flight, human pilots were on borrowed time. And while drones won’t replace fighter jockeys anytime soon, Boeing’s new unmanned combat jet reminds us how woefully inadequate the human body is.

It goes without saying – machines aren’t affected by g-forces, exhaustion, boredom, or lapses in concentration. Strictly speaking, a robot can’t make mistakes. Or experience discomfort of any kind.

No matter how hard the operators at Creech Air Force Base push their drones, the Reapers and Predators won’t experience hypoxia.

“Human performance factors are a major driver behind current aerial combat practices,” noted the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in a policy paper. “Humans can only pull a certain number of Gs, fly for a certain number of hours, or process a certain amount of information at a given time.”

In theory, the only real limitation for unmanned aerial systems is their airframe. A Predator can’t perform the same maneuvers as an F-35 because the former would break apart under high g-forces (and it couldn’t possibly attempt those aerial feats in the first place).

Boeing’s “Airpower Teaming System” won’t make the F-35 or the F-22 obsolete, but it’s a crucial step towards removing humans from the battlefield (and especially the skies, where human physiology is innately limiting).

The autonomous fighter jet is 38 feet long (11.6 metres), with a 2,000 nautical mile (3,704 kilometre) range, and the ability to perform functions like early warning, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and of course, air superiority.

The company claims the jet is modular, adaptable to various global needs, and provides “fighter-like capability at a fraction of the cost.”

Pair the initial price discrepancy with the high rates for training fighter pilots – about $2.6 million – and the debate becomes a lot simpler.

Boeing plans to fly its next-gen autonomous jet in 2020.

Read more here: https://www.reuters.com/article/australia-airshow-boeing-unmanned/boeing-unveils-unmanned-combat-jet-developed-in-australia-idUSL3N20K01O