Report: Manned-Unmanned Teaming Needed to Boost Combat Airpower
7/11/2018
By Vivienne Machi
The Air Force is on the technological cusp of flying manned combat aircraft in tandem with unmanned systems, and should embrace that concept as it looks to add warfighting capacity and stay ahead of peer competitors, analysts said in a new report.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies released July 10 its latest policy paper titled, “Manned-Unmanned Aircraft Teaming: Taking Combat Airpower to the Next Level.†The study encouraged the Air Force to pursue a partnering concept where a manned F-35 joint strike fighter could potentially team up with autonomously operated F-16 multirole fighters for a variety of missions. That could speed up decision-making, bring down costs and fill capability gaps until new assets come online.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2018/7/11/report-mannedunmanned-aircraft-teaming-would-boost-combat-airpower
