Hi,
Doesn't the USAF fly old F-4s as target drones for missile practice? I'd have thought that against technologically unsophisticated bad-guys this was fairly inevitably where it's heading.
The only reason I pipe up with my opinion here is that the film industry is currently going through vaguely-comparable throes as 35mm film really does look like it's finally being given the elbow by high-res digital video kit. Yes, it's the end of "an era", yes it'll be sorely missed, no it doesn't have the same magic when you're shooting it, but likewise it's being done for fairly sound logical reasons. Such is the price of progress.
So long as it really is progress, of course.
Phil