Check out the price tag of these little beauties.
The shift away from manned-fighter technology is serious business.
In an essay today, Lawrence Korb and Krisila Benson argue that should the Pentagon eventually terminate the F-22 Raptor, the loss of production will not degrade the U.S. strategic-industrial base, since "the Obama administration's fiscal 2010 budget includes 28 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters - planes better suited for air-to-ground combat."
American Power: Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (And the Left)
The next generation of fighters probably will be unmanned. They will not be cheap like the predators, Super Hornets or any third generation fighter would stand a chance against them.
LONDON (AFP) – An unmanned jet capable of striking long-range targets has been dubbed the combat aircraft of the future" by the Ministry of Defence.
The Taranis -- named after the Celtic god of thunder -- was unveiled at a ceremony at BAE Systems in Warton,
Lancashire, on Monday.
The £142.5 million prototype is the size of a light aircraft and has been equipped with stealth technology to make it virtually undetectable.
In a press release, the MoD described the Taranis as "a prototype unmanned combat aircraft of the future."
It is built to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions while its crew stays safely on the ground and can control the aircraft from anywhere in the world.
The unmanned fighter jet can also carry bombs and missiles and, if the trials prove successful, the MoD said it should "ultimately be capable of striking targets at long range, even in another continent."
The current generation of propeller-driven drones -- such as the Predator and Reaper -- are capable of carrying missiles, but these unmanned planes can only be used in areas where the military has air dominance, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The
first flight trials are due to start next year.
"Taranis is a truly trailblazing project," said Minister for International Security Strategy Gerald Howarth.
"The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation's advanced design and technology skills and is a leading
programme on the global stage."
February 6th, 2011
Unmanned aircraft, and warfare in general, took a serious step forward Friday when the Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle demonstrator took to the skies for the first time.
The stealthy jet flew in a circular pattern known as a racetrack with its landing gear down (standard for first flights) for 29 minutes at an altitude of 5,000 in the airspace around Edwards Air Force Base in California, by all accounts the flight was a success.
http://defensetech.org/2011/02/06/navys-x-47b-stealthy-combat-drone-makes-first-flight/