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Borrowedshorts t1_j8ifva2 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in An AI recently piloted a Lockheed Martin aircraft for over 17 hours during a testing period in December. by Dalembert

Economies of scale, and the problems to solve performance issues while having a cockpit are basically already solved. Removing the cockpit will do little to nothing to improve performance. And if a major war breaks out, you have an asset that can be immediately manned if need be. There's lots of reasons why you'd want to do it this way.

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phoenixmusicman t1_j8k9os7 wrote

I don't think the removal of the cockpit will yield little to no performance, especially in the area of stealth. Having a slimmer/inline profile will definitely have stealth benefits, which is one of the major considerations of modern fighters.

That being said, the technology needs to be proven before a plane can be designed around it.

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freakincampers t1_j8kn5kl wrote

The planes are also designed with a cockpit in mind, so removing it could throw off the balance of the jet.

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AllCommiesRFascists t1_j8kyrfk wrote

> Removing the cockpit will do little to nothing to improve performance.

This is laughably wrong. No cockpit means better aerodynamics and stealth, more payload capacity, fuel capacity, etc

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Borrowedshorts t1_j8kzxyv wrote

You still have to think of economies of scale, performance, flexibility, etc. High quality drones are still far from being produced in the numbers necessary to hit scale economies, and until that happens, optionally manned aircraft will be the way to go.

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