this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2024
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The aircraft flew up to speeds of 1,200mph. DARPA did not reveal which aircraft won the dogfight.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Jets are a lot more expensive. What's at risk is all these resources for the jet going down the drain.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Huh? Jets are far more replaceable than a human operator who takes years of training and has "needs".

Ya know unless your military is running on cold war fumes or something and you can't afford to build an airframe you already have in production

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Training a combat pilot used to cost (in early 2000, not sure now) 10M€ for a NATO member.

Find me a modern jet that costs so little. Regardless of what politicians say, human life has a price… and it is waaaay below a jet (even including the training)

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, but procurement of a combat pilot has about a two-decade lead time. You can build more jets a lot quicker (potentially even including the R&D phase).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Also as this war expands to become planet-wide, industrial output of drones will expand many orders of magnitude.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It's not just money. It's time, public perception, quantity trainers, quantity student seats etc

A drone is ready the moment it comes off the assembly line, is flashed with software, and tested.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

I'd imagine they'd evetually design a jet purpose built for an AI that would be a lot cheaper than a human-oriented one. Removing the need for a cockpit with seats, displays, controls, oxygen, etc would surely reduce cost. It would also open the door for innovations in air-frame design previously impossible.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

We keep talking like we’re discussing the future, but autonomous drones are already fighting in the skies of Ukraine.

Begun, the drone wars have.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

You mean like:

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Jets are in many ways expensive because they can't be expendible. They also make an bunch of compromises to accommodate keeping a human alive.

For the cost of a single f22, you could put up 60 Valkyries. I think I know which side I would bet on.