No Drone A10s
 

Drones are only good for fire and forget, or let the missile follow the laser. Just like a video game, there is not much thought or control, the game does all the work.

A real CAS mission though... Requires a real pilot to be present in the battlespace so he/she can see what is happening and REACT to the fight.

In the drone video game world, the game is programmed to not let your bombs or bullets go too far off track, if your "close enough". That would never work in the real world where the men on the ground are walking rounds into a target.

JDAMs are cool on YouTube, but the A10 rolling in guns hot always clears the way, and is what the men on the ground count on when shit goes up in smoke. :munchin

I see your point. Thank you for the response.

For the record though, I did not mean a literal comparison to a video game. I was just thinking about the "way" the future generation may think and how it could connect to a possibly better combat/support technological solution by adapting to their current trained brain connections. The solution being on the current assumption that the main issue is that commanders do not want to endanger expensive aircraft and pilots to save other people’s lives. Maybe defined better as a political/ego/selfish issue that should be more psychologically defined and repaired.

I do fly in the civilian world but as your post points out, I guess I just do not have enough military air knowledge or CAS experience to understand the problem or solution. (Not Sarcasm ) :)

Missions and capabilities, though we're discussing here, almost do not exist in the board rooms and offices of the high leadership. The only time they even mention those words, is when they need the wording to sell something. Like an advertising agency or political speech writer.

There are few leadership positions staffed with anyone who really is concerned about the person actually in the fight. They are more concerned about their ratings and future civilian employment with a defense contractor or think tank.

So, back to the thread topic. Pilots are leaving because they can't fly. There will be even more when they're flight status is eliminated as pay back for not playing the drone game. Which will lead to more drones, as they can be set on a programmed course to fly into a battle space, auto pilot, then manual control for actual missle strikes. Then there is the whole - designate a target and launch a drone to catch it and destroy it.

As much as us Army types want a smiling face behind the pilot mask above us, big money and technology is pushing, pulling, a new way. As the piloted fleet ages, they will use that as additional reasoning for more drones.

Again, you don't have to listen to a drone complain, worry about sexual assault, misconduct, profiles, rest, or retirement benefits. They're also easy to program onto targets of any selected enemy, foreign and domestic. Heck, just continue to use Chinese components and the domestic targets will be preprogrammed. ;)