[ilurkedhere]

Aren't fighter pilots obsolete at this point?

Much of the complexity in the craft is centered around keeping the poor bastard flying it, alive. Then there are pretty tight limits on how much acceleration the human body can receive. Pilot-less craft don't have those limitions, so I figure they should be much more maneuverable and less expensive.

[ihsw]

The tech simply isn't there yet.

Conventional fighter jets have more speed, travel and strike range, and more maneuverability. They will outflank drones every time -- I'm not kidding, they stand absolutely zero chance against fighter jets.

You could send a couple dozen Reaper drones out and a pair of Su27/F15s would shoot them out of the sky before you can say "Hellfire."

Not to mention modern anti-air defense systems would chew through them like candy.

What are they good for then? Cheap, high-altitude, medium-range (~1500KM), endurance (>24hr) missions.

[JoeAltmaier]

Military drones started with the CIA - I listened to the retired director that initiated the effort, on NPR. They used drones in countries who either didn't have radar or had forgotten how to connect it with weapons systems, which included "almost everywhere". They wanted a sustained (24 hour) observation platform in the field, and drones filled the bill.

I'm sure they might ultimately get to fighter-jet performance, but at a much greater cost and reduction in mission time.