Originally Posted by
glad rag
So you can discuss helmets and looking through the floor to your hearts content, but if the aircraft is in the position of being obsolescent by the time it matures in operational service well what do you do then???? Are we at the cusp of manned aircraft being obsolescent already????/
It's been my belief for over a decade that the F-35 is the last manned "fighter" the US will build. (If I am wrong, fine.) Big reasons are the time to develop the next marginal increase in capability versus cost versus other options for the same defense dollar.
The promise of platforms like
X-47B will keep attracting funding, as UAV have for the last 20 years. A core reason for this is that people are darned expensive.
Speculation Begins:
I suspect that there's a deeper motivation. I have found out that non-pilots frequently have a hard time dealing with pilots ... understandable, since they have to admit that they are lesser beings.
There's double motive, therefore, to pursue a unmanned strike fighter of whatever people want to call the next generation ... and they won't have to buy a million dollar helmet for each pilot!
(OK, will all of the Navs, BN's and RIOs commence with brick throwing, and when we are done we all buy lots of beer for the folks who keep these things flying ... )
Anyway, F-35 looks to be the last of the breed, to me. Been a hell of a ride since Biggles flew over the trench lines in France, eh?
X-47B UCAS Makes Aviation History?Again!