Responding here to this quote
Dare I say, all that is satisfied by something like this nowadays :
Not to take away from your model though which is great!
Thanks! It came together real nice!
Problems with the drones (as I see them) are;
Limited field of view / situational awareness
Limited payload
Low speed
Inability to act as radio relay (surprisingly, the most critical problem!)
No armour
High cost
High complexity (control system)
Any loss of contact (for whatever reason) results in loss of the platform
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Drone cannot act as a liason aircraft
Drone cannot be used in an air combat situation
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I'll get my coat...
Responses:
Limited field of view / situational awareness - somewhat countered if one fits lipstick cameras all around thus providing a EO DAS style solution. Besides, one could argue that a crew siting comfortable out of harm's way if provided. With plenty of sensor feedback could potentially have a higher situational awareness.
Limited payload - not a feature of drones per sae but rather of the individual designs. A drone could easily be given the biggest payload ever seen. Besides, I would suggest the Reaper (by way of example) is not lacking in that department).
Low speed - again not a feature of drones per sae but rather of the individual designs. And by the way a drone has operated at in excess of Mach 3 as far back as the 1960s.
Inability to act as radio relay (surprisingly, the most critical problem!) -not sure what you mean by this since acting as relay repeaters is actually one of the roles regularly envisaged for such platforms. The technology is quite easy.
No armour - again not a feature of drones per sae but rather of the individual designs. One could design a drone to be the heaviest armoured platform ever to fly...if it was cost effective. I would also suggest that many manned platforms are also lightly or not armoured.
High cost. - compared to what?
High complexity (control system) - as opposed to life support and other features required for manned platforms?
Any loss of contact (for whatever reason) results in loss of the platform - not necessarily. Drones can be and are built with the ability to keep flying even with loss of comms. It really depends upon the scenario, rules of engagement and operating environment as to what occurs following a
permanent loss of comms.
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Drone cannot act as a liason aircraft - true...but hardly a significant issue. Though one could add on some inhabited pods...
Drone cannot be used in an air combat situation - errr...what do you think the AIM-9s carried on some MQ-9s are for? Moreover, one could easily have drones that far exceed the air combat capabilities of any manned platform...they certainly found that they could as far back as the 1970s.
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