F-35

Basic argument is compare chances of victory with cost as essential controlling feature. My educated assumption is that human-piloted craft are obsolete, while AI craft are superior cost-wise and disposable (humans are assumed precious, not disposable).

Main topic F-35, advanced technology, but too expensive to be practical

overview of the opposition UAS, or UAV

List of unmanned aerial vehicles | wkpd by nation of origin

Cost of F-35 approx. $100m (different configurations have different tags)

f35.com/about/cost link was deleted, only promo page still active... https://www.f35.com/f35/about.html (is Lockheed embarrassed by their endemic disdain for public sentiment?)

Cost of training one expert fighter jet pilot; no short-cuts, each trainee must go thru the entire training regimen, takes several years on top of growing to adulthood and having family that care about him (or her).

Cost Of Training U.S. Air Force Fighter Pilots [Infographic] Apr.2019 | frbs

cost of training a basic qualified fighter pilot adds up to an estimated $5.6 million for an F-16 pilot, $10.17 million for an F-35A pilot and $10.9 million for an F-22 pilot... RAND concluded that from a personnel cost perspective, it is more cost-effective to increase incentive pay than to expand the training pipeline (recruit more pilots) to sustain the pilot inventory.

Development cost of UAS, UAV pilot software; it is easy to duplicate.

The US and its UAVs: A Cost-Benefit Analysis 2012

Training to Fly the Most Advanced Fighter Jet

human pilots need continuous practice (figure in operational expenses), UAS, UAV AI software not so, may remain on-standby until final use

Going by a different name, but essentially equivalent to UAVs, are guided missiles, the difference is in re-usability, as missiles are assumed to self-destruct. I'm going to include them because recovery modes could be added without much difficulty.

In the guided missile category, air combat application, of course the military industrial complex has a conflict of interest in making public a comparison between UAS and piloted planes because they're heavily invested in the latter. Manned vs Unmanned 2013

Most often ignored in the argument between pilot and computer control, a human can distinguish at most a few targets at once, and not very well. Chimps are better at that task. Computers are unlimited in ability to track and calculate multiple targets, with much faster reaction times than a human.

A particle swarm optimisation algorithm with interactive swarms for tracking multiple targets 2013

AI pilot ability vs human

Conjectured equal-cost opponents: supersonic, AI controlled UAV surface-to-air 500, or air-to-air 1000 missiles.

Suppose a single F-35 fighter is opposed by this attacking horde. Chances of victory, nil. Cost of each a2a UAC assumed $100k, each s2a $200k. Let's shop...

cost of surface to air missile

cost of air to air missiles

cost of surface to surface cruise missile

manned combat aircraft soon obsolete?

military always want to fight previous war, ignore innovations

military industrial complex lobbies gov't for selfish purposes

MIC is enemy of the people in economic field of battle

edit Feb.26.2021
Outrage follows report $1.7 trillion F-35 program is now considered a failure Feb.24 | RT

U.S. Air Force admitted that the F-35 stealth fighter has failed Feb.23 | twtr

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study notes

There are no limits on Flat Earth - Mark Sargent 7 min 'flat earth' is a metaphor (not to be taken literally, no mention of disc-shaped planet) for accepting a new zeitgeist, or world-view, aka Great Awakening, ie. turning to thinking officially regarded as absurd