hy The Pentagon, Trump Admin Wanted a "Manned" F-47
Kris Osborn
8h
The Air Force's F-47 blasted out from months if not years of uncertainty regarding what would be the technological, conceptual and operational future of the service's 6th-Gen aircraft.
For many years, Air Force weapons developers had been clear that the emerging NGAD 6th-generation stealth fighter program effort will consist of a “family of systems” leveraging manned-unmanned teaming with both manned and unmanned possibilities. Breakthroughs in command and control technology, networking, autonomy and mission systems have enabled a tactical circumstance wherein groups of unmanned systems can be operated from the cockpit of a manned aircraft, bringing new levels of air attack into the realm of possibility.
The Pentagon and the Trump administration made the decision to enable a "manned" 6th-Gen fighter instead of simply developing a purely unmanned 6th-Gen stealth aircraft. What about the possibility of the host F-47 platform being unmanned? Can the same operational capabilities be achieved? For years now, weapons developers have been refining new levels of autonomy, AI-enabled decision-making, unmanned-to-unmanned information sharing using unmanned platforms. Unmanned fighter jets were tested more than a decade ago, and new algorithms empowered by advanced AI can increasingly perform many functions faster and more efficiently than humans. Years ago, former Secretary of the Navy Ray Maybus generated much discussion when he said that the F-35 would likely be the last “manned” fighter ever to exist. Could he have been correct?
Unmanned Fighter Jets
https://warriormaven.com/news/air/why-the-pentagon-trump-admin-wanted-a-manned-f-47