F-22 Raptor Jet - waste of money, cold war relic, or vital national defense component

[JohnR]

And there is a time and place for UAVs and UCAVs but what happens when there is no pilot to make a visual identification, interpret the visual, and make the call? Who do you blame? The software engineer?

[FishermanTim]

Who would be blamed?

In our current political environment, it would be the guy that cleans up after the bigwigs finish patting themselves on the back and giving themselves raises for a "job" well done.

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by JohnR

And there is a time and place for UAVs and UCAVs but what happens when there is no pilot to make a visual identification, interpret the visual, and make the call? Who do you blame? The software engineer?

And what happens when they interpret it incorrectly human or not?
At the speeds these decisions are made its hard to see either being the correct action,
UAV's are hopefully cheaper and able to fly for longer periods without refuel, come in many sizes and types, it's hard to say exactly when the call is for a man on the 'pickle'

Bill

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Who would be blamed?

In our current political environment, it would be the guy that cleans up after the bigwigs finish patting themselves on the back and giving themselves raises for a "job" well done.

You're right, someone else will get hung out to dry

Originally Posted by striperman36

And what happens when they interpret it incorrectly human or not?
At the speeds these decisions are made its hard to see either being the correct action,
UAV's are hopefully cheaper and able to fly for longer periods without refuel, come in many sizes and types, it's hard to say exactly when the call is for a man on the 'pickle'

Bill

I am all for UAV / UCAVS but just not limited to the "U" only part. Yes, you can build a UCAV that will pull 15Gs because there is no pilot to kill. Problem is you can't always rely on a UCAV to visually ID something at 4 miles and then make a decision if your link is jammed or your network centric collective engagement battle fusion is rebooting or the cleaning lady accidentally knocks out the surge protector back at the control operator's base. Somewhere there will be a lesson our people will be on the wrong side of with too many eggs in the digital basket. You of all people would know that .

(I'm so for UCAVs that were I a young stud today and couldn't fly real I would fly unmanned, afterall they swap ejection seats for Lazyboys )

[WoodyCT]

It's his meal ticket.

[Backbeach Jake]

The only thing wrong with that plane is it's price tag. From what I've heard there's nothing else in the atmosphere that can even hope to survive a tangle with it. It's not necessarily a nose forward plane.

[mikecc]

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...num=4&ct=image