Gwynne Dyer hit the nail on the head:
The big question that is finally going to be asked, in countries rich and poor, is why the air forces insist on buying ultra-expensive manned aircraft instead of flocks, swarms and fleets of small, cheap, disposable unmanned vehicles. The truth is that air forces are run by pilots, and they like to fly planes (sic), but what happened in Saudi Arabia last week will finally give the civilian authorities arguments that the aviators cannot resist or ignore.