How long before Unmanned fighter plane's Have a Role in modern Airforce's ?

[Aspiring_Pilot]

Hi ..
.. Am new to defense Forum's, .. An is interested in fighter plane's technology.. ( An got some pretty kl info from this forum )

So i decided to make a thread : <( lets get to the point )


i was just wondering about unmanned aircraft. An how advanced technology wise have they become ?

i came across The Boeing X-4 completely unmanned fighter aircraft and also the dassault Neuron stealth Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle

Both got me thinking, what role can these planes in the future have in air forces and combat situations, can they replace exciting fighter planes because of the convenience of not worrying about casualties etc..

and they gotta be cheaper to produce . so they can have more planes

just wanted some expert views?

 

[rjmaz1]

Well the first unmanned fighter may very well end up being the F-35.

The hardware/systems in the F-35 is the first fighter to be capable of being changed to an unmanned aircraft. The only addition required is software for the computer and of course the required ground control stations. The transition to an unmanned F-35 will be a smooth one. The first computer flown mission can have a pilot in the seat and gradually once confidence builds the pilot seat will become empty and then eventually there will be no cockpit at all.

Though i think the any initial unmanned aircraft will used for strike missions only by dropping bombs on pre-planned targets and flying through assigned waypoints. In fact this is nothing new, cruise missiles have been doing this perfectly for the last decade. Many aircraft can already land themselves by computer, in fact most of the US jets can already auto-land and auto-refuel.

The question remains regarding giving a computer the power to target, track and release a weapon without human input or "man in the loop". To be a fighter it will need to be able to do that, if we put a guy on the ground in control then the datalink could be hacked or jammed.

To be a strike aircraft the targets can be pre-programmed on the ground and away it goes. Changes cant be made or new targets added because if we can do that remotely then so could the enemy.

So unmanned strike aircraft will be here very soon. We have demonstrators already. They have already converted an F-16 to an unmanned aircraft. If the X-45 or X-47 doesn't end up being produced due to budget concerns then the F-35 will probably become the first unmanned strike aircraft.

The first fighter though? I think that will be left up to the F-22's with a pilot in the seat.

 

[windscorpion]

The F-22 / Typhoon et cetera may be the last manned fighters (as in A2A) but true AI has always been a "few years away" just like nuclear fusion so I'm not sure when AI will be good enough to replace the pilot.

 

[DarthAmerica]

They already have a role. MQ-9's are already taking over missions from F-16 and F-15 squadrons. Thats not testing, training but actual combat operations. It's primary mission is lethal with a complimentary ISR capability. This is the first publically acknowledged operational Unmanned Fighter AFAIK.

-DA