{"id":28337,"date":"2016-08-25T14:30:36","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T04:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=28337"},"modified":"2016-08-24T15:26:46","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T05:26:46","slug":"droids-youre-looking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/","title":{"rendered":"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

A recurring objection to the use of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) for any role currently filled by fighter or attack aircraft is that robots can\u2019t replace human fighter pilots. It\u2019s probably a bit optimistic<\/a> to say that humans will always be more capable pilots than computers, but robots don\u2019t have to replace pilots to be useful. A fun way to stimulate thinking about unmanned systems is to look at how robots (aka droids) are used in the Star Wars <\/em>movies.<\/p>\n

Starting with the Original Trilogy<\/a> (as one should), droids are mostly seen in non-combat roles. R2-D2 is essentially Luke\u2019s Skywalker\u2019s co-pilot, and his best real-world analogue is the growing computerisation of military systems. The original Star Wars movie was released in 1977, a year before the USAF introduced the F-16. The F-16\u2019s successor, the F-35, doesn\u2019t exactly have an R2-D2 sitting behind the pilot, but its sophisticated sensor systems and data fusion capabilities aren\u2019t that different to having a robot co-pilot.<\/p>\n

In The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, probe droids<\/a> are used for ISR ops on a galactic scale, leading the Empire to the Rebels on Hoth. Most modern unmanned air systems are primarily ISR platforms, like the RQ-7 Shadow<\/a> the Australian Army operates. ISR drones are cheap to operate and take boring tasks away from humans\u2014the more automated the better.<\/p>\n

The Prequel Trilogy really embraced the concept of weaponised robots<\/a>. The secessionist Confederacy was able to prosecute a war against the Republic using a military comprised almost entirely of droids. In this war among the stars, as in real wars, numbers matter<\/a>. Unless you\u2019re a Jedi, your odds of survival in combat probably diminish as the number of enemies increases. The ethos of the Confederacy military was therefore to manufacture as many killer robots as possible.<\/p>\n

Unmanned systems offer other advantages\u2014like endurance. The Republic military relied mostly on cloned human soldiers and pilots<\/a>, and the logistics of a human military are complicated. They need food and rest, and they need medical attention when injured (although being clones probably makes it easy to find organ donors). The decision to make the B-21 long-range strike bomber \u2018optionally manned<\/a>\u2019 reflects the benefits of autonomy and remote piloting for long-endurance missions.<\/p>\n

The clones and the Republic\u2019s platforms were arguably more capable than their robotic counterparts, but the sheer number of enemies resulted in a years-long war. Similar dynamics can be seen in Western militaries since the start of the Cold War. There\u2019s been a trend toward reduced numbers of more capable (and more expensive) platforms to \u2018offset<\/a>\u2019 the adversary\u2019s superior numbers. Just after the Korean War<\/a> (PDF) the USAF inventory included more than 10,000 fighter and attack aircraft. Today, the total USAF inventory is roughly 5,000 operational aircraft, including about 1,400 fighter jets. Of course, the Empire continued that trend to its logical conclusion: the Death Star.<\/p>\n

The RAAF currently has fewer than 100 Hornet and Super Hornet fighter jets, and it plans to replace the 71 Hornets with 72 F-35s, each of which is likely to cost about US$90m<\/a>. A UCAS like the X-47B<\/a>, nEUROn or Taranis<\/a> could be less than half<\/a> that cost, although no production-type currently exists to make any qualified estimates.<\/p>\n

The USAF also has a deficit of 500<\/a> trained fighter pilots, which could \u00a0become a shortage of 700<\/a> pilots in the next year alone. UCAS can fill that gap, transforming squadrons into a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft. Imagine if the Rebels\u2019 assault on the first Death Star has included dozens of droid fighters to keep the enemy busy\u2014they mightn\u2019t have lost 90% of their pilots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The F-35 is already being discussed<\/a> as a possible command and control platform for multiple UCAS, and this has the added benefit of shoring up numbers. That style of UCAS is borne of the \u2018loyal wingman<\/a>\u2019 model, but the relationship is more likely to resemble that between a military working dog and its handler than that of a wingman. Rather than being a replacement for fighter pilots, UCAS can further expand the capabilities of each pilot.<\/p>\n

The concept of large, production-type UCAS is still hampered by the existing paradigm of fewer, more expensive aircraft. An interesting new development is the USAF\u2019s effort to develop a cheap target drone-style UCAS. A contract for a \u2018low-cost attritable unmanned aerial system demonstration\u2019 (LCASD<\/a>) was recently granted to Kratos Defense, a target drone manufacturer. The demonstrator is expected to operate<\/a> at high-subsonic speeds, with a 2,800km range and 225kg of payload capacity. Best of all, the targeted unit cost is just US$2\u20133m\u2014now we\u2019re in Confederate Space.<\/p>\n

The possibilities of UCAS are far more diverse than a simple choice between human pilots and droid pilots. That\u2019s a false dichotomy, and it does no service to the capabilities of our air forces. It\u2019s time to stop building Death Stars<\/a> and start making droids<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recurring objection to the use of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) for any role currently filled by fighter or attack aircraft is that robots can\u2019t replace human fighter pilots. It\u2019s probably a bit optimistic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":28338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[402,807,1749,710],"class_list":["post-28337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-drones","tag-star-wars","tag-ucas","tag-uncrewed-systems"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThese are the droids you\u2019re looking for | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recurring objection to the use of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) for any role currently filled by fighter or attack aircraft is that robots can\u2019t replace human fighter pilots. It\u2019s probably a bit optimistic ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-25T04:30:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-24T05:26:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/24538642194_bf20fa3c43_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Mugg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Mugg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/24538642194_bf20fa3c43_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/24538642194_bf20fa3c43_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":425,\"caption\":\"Image courtesy of Flickr user Hideto KOBAYASHI\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/\",\"name\":\"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-25T04:30:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-24T05:26:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/31d8b441ededde7cfcfe2a0a880574cf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/31d8b441ededde7cfcfe2a0a880574cf\",\"name\":\"James Mugg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe09781e45ce32d9611a0870da85dbfa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe09781e45ce32d9611a0870da85dbfa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Mugg\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/james-mugg\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for | The Strategist","og_description":"A recurring objection to the use of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) for any role currently filled by fighter or attack aircraft is that robots can\u2019t replace human fighter pilots. It\u2019s probably a bit optimistic ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2016-08-25T04:30:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-24T05:26:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/24538642194_bf20fa3c43_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Mugg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Mugg","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/24538642194_bf20fa3c43_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/24538642194_bf20fa3c43_z.jpg","width":640,"height":425,"caption":"Image courtesy of Flickr user Hideto KOBAYASHI"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/","name":"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-08-25T04:30:36+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-24T05:26:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/31d8b441ededde7cfcfe2a0a880574cf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/droids-youre-looking\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"These are the droids you\u2019re looking for"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/31d8b441ededde7cfcfe2a0a880574cf","name":"James Mugg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe09781e45ce32d9611a0870da85dbfa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe09781e45ce32d9611a0870da85dbfa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Mugg"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/james-mugg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28339,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28337\/revisions\/28339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}