The aircraft flew up to speeds of 1,200mph. DARPA did not reveal which aircraft won the dogfight.

  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.orgOP
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    7 months ago

    Jets are a lot more expensive. What’s at risk is all these resources for the jet going down the drain.

    • GBU_28
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      7 months ago

      Huh? Jets are far more replaceable than a human operator who takes years of training and has “needs”.

      Ya know unless your military is running on cold war fumes or something and you can’t afford to build an airframe you already have in production

      • diffusive@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Training a combat pilot used to cost (in early 2000, not sure now) 10M€ for a NATO member.

        Find me a modern jet that costs so little. Regardless of what politicians say, human life has a price… and it is waaaay below a jet (even including the training)

        • grue@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Yeah, but procurement of a combat pilot has about a two-decade lead time. You can build more jets a lot quicker (potentially even including the R&D phase).

          • intensely_human
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            7 months ago

            Also as this war expands to become planet-wide, industrial output of drones will expand many orders of magnitude.

        • GBU_28
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          7 months ago

          It’s not just money. It’s time, public perception, quantity trainers, quantity student seats etc

          A drone is ready the moment it comes off the assembly line, is flashed with software, and tested.

    • everyone_said@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I’d imagine they’d evetually design a jet purpose built for an AI that would be a lot cheaper than a human-oriented one. Removing the need for a cockpit with seats, displays, controls, oxygen, etc would surely reduce cost. It would also open the door for innovations in air-frame design previously impossible.

      • intensely_human
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        7 months ago

        We keep talking like we’re discussing the future, but autonomous drones are already fighting in the skies of Ukraine.

        Begun, the drone wars have.

    • Bgugi@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Jets are in many ways expensive because they can’t be expendible. They also make an bunch of compromises to accommodate keeping a human alive.

      For the cost of a single f22, you could put up 60 Valkyries. I think I know which side I would bet on.