"Dogfights Of The Future Will Be Unmanned" Topic

"American air dominance has long rested on staying technologically ahead of the enemy. With high-speed stealth design, advanced avionics, and integrated computing, the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II is built to keep that edge for the United States and its allies. The problem—aside from a spate of cost overruns, malfunctions, and delays—is that other countries are no longer far behind. The Chinese J-31 Gyrfalcon 1 resembles the F-35 not just in looks, but also in speed and strike capabilities. The Russian T-50 PAK FA is a fifth-generation fighter jet whose capabilities parallel those of the U.S. F-22. As more countries reach the technology frontier, the advantage gained by any one of them diminishes. And so military planners are looking for another edge: unmanned craft. That means the F-35 could earn a different distinction: As the U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in April, it "should be, and almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly."

More than 80 nations already use unmanned aerial systems, or drones, and the next generation is now emerging. They will be autonomous, jet-powered, and capable of air-to-air combat. In the U.S., the Navy's X-47B has already made unmanned landings on an aircraft carrier, while in the U.K., the BAE Systems' Taranis is designed for stealth strikes. China too is developing drones. It has three drone strike programs in the works…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Until satellites are brought down, or and until electronic warfare / jamming plays havoc with the toys.
Remember all those ships full of funny gear going in total EMCON to stay alive…. And collide in the fog.

Drones crash on their own, often. Half of all US drones have been written off from crashes. Ever since Korea I've been hearing that the dogfight is done and ever since Vietnam I've been hearing that pilots are obsolete. It hasn't happened yet, wake me when it does.

It is going to be a while before this ever happens. Too easy to jam communications to the drones/planes. As mentioned, taking out satellites will make it much harder for remote planes to work. I suspect China's testing on anti-satellite technology is steps towards taking out our GPS system and rendering missiles, and future drones, obsolete.