Vince Rausch, left, project manager, and Joel Sitz, flight test manager of the NASA X-43A experimental aircraft designed to fly up to seven times the speed of sound, talk with reporters behind a scale model of the aircraft during a news briefing at Edwards Air Force Base, Wednesday, April 18, 2001, in the Southern California desert. The 12-foot-long aircraft, its distinctive spatula-shaped nose seen at left, will be dropped from a B-52 bomber over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast during its maiden flight in mid-May. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The NASA X-43A, an experimental aircraft designed to fly up to seven times the speed of sound, is seen during a press briefing at Edwards Air Force Base Wednesday, April 18, 2001, in the Southern California desert. In this configuration, the 12-foot-long aircraft, its distinctive spatula-shaped nose, just under two feet wide at the tip, front, is attached to an booster rocket, top rear. The entire assembly will be dropped from a B-52 bomber over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast during its maiden flight in mid-May. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon
- Apr 19 12:12 AM ET
UCAVs will also have to overcome opposition from those within the armed forces who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. John Warden, a management consultant and former fighter pilot who was the architect of the Gulf war air campaign (and hence of the current air-superiority orthodoxy), says the rise of unmanned aircraft will take some getting used to. But he predicts that 90% of combat aircraft will be unmanned by 2025. The remaining 10%, he suggests, will be held in reserve for sensitive missions that require last-minute decisions by a person on the spot.
In other words, it seems as though there will be less call in future for dashing, highly trained pilots capable of “pulling gees” and flying by the seats of their pants. Indeed, today’s pilots might, says Mr Warden, turn out to have completely the wrong skills to operate UCAVs. But a generation of children reared on computer games will probably feel right at home.
