Revelation 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens <caves> in the rocks of the mountains;
First, your articles are great food for thought, and you clearly have done a lot of thinking. You are absolutely correct that the days of manned fighter and bombers are coming to an end. AI unmanned aircraft won’t have to lug around a biological human being that weighs 180 lbs just to use the 10lb brains, which saves space, power, and weight because it doesn’t need a canopy, or an oxygen generator, or an ejection seat, or climate control, and isn’t restricted to g-forces that would kill the human pilot.
Second, i’m not sure “stealth”
Is obsolete yet. i’ve heard that long wave radars can “detect” “stealth” aircraft, but cannot produce a firing solution. Like a wolf howling in the wilderness, you detect the wolf is out there and its approximate direction, but you can’t take a rifle shot based on that limited data. If you know better, please share!
Third, not quite sure your proposal of moving air artillery to the USAF, except for manpads, is sound. In the Russian-Ukraine war, Patriots have been used to shoot down - or attempted to shoot down - missiles launched to target ground target from the ground, air, and sea, but very rarely engage aircrafts. Early in the conflict the parties realized that aircraft cannot operate over an integrated air defense system, so they try to avoid them. The vast majority of targets of tactical cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, etc. are ground targets. As a former Soldier, I don’t want to be the USAFs 3rd priority when Iskander missiles are on the way. Not to mention the vast panoply of various “drones”.
So much of warfare is changing so quickly that it's very reminiscent of the 1910s and 1920s.
The big difference, I think, is that the military-industrial complex wasn't as firmly strapped in to the driver's seat of the gravy train back then as it is now. The entrenched desire to keep selling the old toys along with the new is going to make adaptation more difficult and expensive.
And yeah, what you call the "pilot mafia" will make effective noise, too. I can't blame them. I've lived through several rounds of the "Marine mafia" protecting that branch's existence in the same way. While I think they're justified, that doesn't change how the tactic works.
I think all sides were pretty stuck in their ways as they headed into WW I; they used the same strategies and tactics of old in spite of changes in weaponry, hence trench warfare, and truly horrific death tolls on a daily basis. On the one hand machineguns, better artillery, even some aircraft, and chemical weapons were in service, on the other hand horses were still a primary if not the primary means of draft power for moving things around overland. I guess we humans are now the horses of WW I.
Revelation 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens <caves> in the rocks of the mountains;
Bill, a couple of comments:
First, your articles are great food for thought, and you clearly have done a lot of thinking. You are absolutely correct that the days of manned fighter and bombers are coming to an end. AI unmanned aircraft won’t have to lug around a biological human being that weighs 180 lbs just to use the 10lb brains, which saves space, power, and weight because it doesn’t need a canopy, or an oxygen generator, or an ejection seat, or climate control, and isn’t restricted to g-forces that would kill the human pilot.
Second, i’m not sure “stealth”
Is obsolete yet. i’ve heard that long wave radars can “detect” “stealth” aircraft, but cannot produce a firing solution. Like a wolf howling in the wilderness, you detect the wolf is out there and its approximate direction, but you can’t take a rifle shot based on that limited data. If you know better, please share!
Third, not quite sure your proposal of moving air artillery to the USAF, except for manpads, is sound. In the Russian-Ukraine war, Patriots have been used to shoot down - or attempted to shoot down - missiles launched to target ground target from the ground, air, and sea, but very rarely engage aircrafts. Early in the conflict the parties realized that aircraft cannot operate over an integrated air defense system, so they try to avoid them. The vast majority of targets of tactical cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, etc. are ground targets. As a former Soldier, I don’t want to be the USAFs 3rd priority when Iskander missiles are on the way. Not to mention the vast panoply of various “drones”.
Who will be the next early-century Billy Mitchell?
Hmmm, I am convinced he will not be a pilot in a terrestrial manned aircraft.
So much of warfare is changing so quickly that it's very reminiscent of the 1910s and 1920s.
The big difference, I think, is that the military-industrial complex wasn't as firmly strapped in to the driver's seat of the gravy train back then as it is now. The entrenched desire to keep selling the old toys along with the new is going to make adaptation more difficult and expensive.
And yeah, what you call the "pilot mafia" will make effective noise, too. I can't blame them. I've lived through several rounds of the "Marine mafia" protecting that branch's existence in the same way. While I think they're justified, that doesn't change how the tactic works.
I think all sides were pretty stuck in their ways as they headed into WW I; they used the same strategies and tactics of old in spite of changes in weaponry, hence trench warfare, and truly horrific death tolls on a daily basis. On the one hand machineguns, better artillery, even some aircraft, and chemical weapons were in service, on the other hand horses were still a primary if not the primary means of draft power for moving things around overland. I guess we humans are now the horses of WW I.
And 80% of the German Army in WWII was horse drawn for logistics.
The German military killed approx 2.7 million horses in WWII.
Now that I didn't know.