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Old July 16th 07, 05:05 PM posted to rec.aviation.military,rec.aviation.military.naval,sci.military.naval
Harry Andreas
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Posts: 52
Default The Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration Program: A New Dawn for Naval Aviation?

In article .com,
BlackBeard wrote:

On Jul 15, 7:48 pm, Kerryn Offord wrote:


Not air combat, but a kissin' cousin...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070715/D8QD61V80.html

The new 'Reapers' being deployed.


This is an interesting topic.
It reminds me of the first "stealth ship" that Lockheed built.
IIRC no one in the Navy wanted to command such a ship.
The problem was not technical, it was sociological.
Promotion is based on how many men are under your command.
The stealth ship had a radically smaller crew. So despite it's
greater capability, the general concensus was that if you captained
it you would be at a disadvantage career-wise.

I wonder if the same factors are at play here.
How many men make up a UCAV airwing, versus a manned wing?

--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur