In article ,
Charles Gray wrote:

You know, that's always puzzled me-- I recall reading in the 1980's
that they thought Air to Air UCAV's might actually beat CAS versions,
due to the problems of picking targets out of the ground, IFF, etc.
On the other hand, Air to Air could be done by selecting a section of
air and declaring anything in it hostile, giving the UCAV's free
range.

What changed?

A lot of people found out just how hard that particular job was. Target
acquisition and ID is hard enough for humans, and the challenge of doing
that *plus* flying an air combat mission is still a ways off.

Add in ECM (if the robots are supposed to kill anything in their "box"
they can't ID, the enemy just jams the IFF and they kill *everything*),
and it gets even harder.

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.