Luddites of the Air

yasotay

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This paper makes some good points, but I can also present counter-arguments.
First, military culture changes slowly. Generals like to "fight the last war." This means that many soldiers/sailors/pilots can only learn one method of fighting during their career and it becomes easier to retire them - and train their successors a different way - than it is to retrain them. Especially in the enlisted ranks, NCOs devote so much time and effort and pain to teach one method, that that method becomes so ingrained that it is impossible to retrain them. That is why grumpy old SNCOs are retired.
IOW sometimes you need to wait until one generation retires before you can introduce new technology.

Secondly, the newest is not always the best technology. I was born just before the Avro Arrow was cancelled in favor of the Bomarc missle. I was sceptical of the Bomarc the first time I saw one. It turned out that missile technology was not advanced enough to defeat all incoming ballistic missiles, so the RCAF needed to re-introduce manned fighters in the form of CF-101, CF-104, CF-5 and CF-18. Hopefully the software is advanced enough now that un-manned or semi-manned missions will be practical.

Finally, I do not see the current introduction of unmanned tankers - launched from aircraft carriers - as a mistake. It is going to take another 20 years for naval aviators to fully trust unmanned aircraft on the same flight deck. The X-47B is a low-risk way to learn the finer points of operating unmanned aircraft from ships. IOW X-47 is merely one small step in the process of perfecting unmanned aircraft.
 

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