It's Amazing: Here's What the Future of Unmanned Combat Aircraft Could Look Like, Can You Believe It?

Some people believe that "unmanned combat aircraft is the signature weapon of the information age, will completely change the face of air combat", and even some people proposed that "the sixth generation of fighters no longer need a pilot". There are also people who believe that the fate of repeated capture exposed the unmanned aircraft has its limitations, it is not possible to dominate the air combat jianghu, in the future, the unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft joint, synergistic, is likely to become a major style of air combat! It's impossible to replace the actual operation of the pilot!

Information: the U.S. Army Predator drone

UAVs, can really replace manned aircraft in the field of aviation? Just how useful will unmanned combat aircraft be in the foreseeable future?

UAV "history" and advantages and disadvantages

UAVs were born in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the last century, but their initial application in the war was only to play the role of harassment, target aircraft and other marginal roles, UAVs are really important to people mainly due to two wars. In 1982, the fifth Middle East war, Israel to "fierce dog" drones as a guide, luring the Syrian radar and anti-aircraft fire positions exposed, and at the same time with strong firepower in an instant will be all destroyed, drones thus a war famous.

October 2001, in the Afghan war, the United States for the first time remotely controlled "Predator" drones launched "Hellfire" missiles, destroyed a convoy in Afghanistan, killing a number of Taliban leaders, which opened up a new era of drones directly used for destructive strikes. This opened a new era in the use of drones for direct destructive strikes. In the long war on terror since then, U.S. drones have killed dozens of heavyweight terrorists in targeted killings over Afghanistan and Pakistan.

With their own unique advantages, drones in the vast battlefield, promising. The first is all-weather surprise defense. "Using its powerful stealth performance, the drone can fly quietly to the vicinity of the target at night, in rain or snow, or in the clouds, and use precision-guided weapons to carry out a surprise attack on the enemy's air defense system. In addition, suicide drones are particularly suitable for striking enemy radar. For example, Israel's "Habib" drone can detect enemy radar waves, rushed to the radar, with the intention of "with the death".

Intelligence reconnaissance is the most important combat function of the UAV, the UAV can be responsible for strategic intelligence and tactical intelligence dual collection task, efficiency and security in many aspects far higher than the traditional manned reconnaissance aircraft. In terms of strategic intelligence, compared with traditional reconnaissance aircraft, drones can navigate continuously for a longer period of time and in a wider airspace to collect intelligence without interruption and without the cost of life. Compared to a network of space reconnaissance satellites, drones are more flexible and maneuverable, allowing for a tighter reconnaissance network and clearer reconnaissance images.

The tactical reconnaissance capabilities of drones are even more irreplaceable. In the tactical level of the battlefield environment, small drones are like a flying telescope, can be a clear understanding of the battlefield situation, leaving no dead ends, and greatly enhance the combatants' battlefield perception ability. In terms of electronic warfare, the drone is also noteworthy. It can be loaded with a large number of electronic equipment, set early warning, command, control, communications, jamming and other electronic warfare functions in one.

The UAV also has the powerful function of suppressing and destroying the enemy's electronic warfare system. It can "bait flight" way to lure the enemy radar on, so that their own reconnaissance system can clearly grasp the enemy radar and position parameters, and then be attacked. At the same time, the UAV can rely on powerful electronic jamming capabilities, the enemy's information system to carry out strong suppression and interference, so that the enemy blind and deaf.

"Heron" drone

In December 2011, Iran "captured" a U.S. RQ-170 stealth unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, a moment in the global rumor. The Iranians claimed that they had hacked into the U.S. military data chain and maneuvered the RQ-170 to land through electronic deception techniques. It is believed that the Iranians blocked the RQ-170's communication band with the rear link through electronic jamming, putting it in a state of disorientation, and programmed the drone to make an automatic forced landing. Blocking jamming of the enemy's radio frequency band, which is used to remotely control the drone, is very easy, and even if the drone is equipped with automatic frequency hopping, it is not difficult for the jamming party to keep up, it is just a matter of how fast they can keep up!

Post-sequence

In any case, the status of drones in the air war jungle has been established, in the future war, drones will never be dispensable accessories, but will be an important air support force, and even in the local range will play a certain dominant role. In the future, the combination and synergy of drones and manned aircraft is likely to become a major style of air combat. Therefore, the cooperation between unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft will be developed to a deeper level, in the future air formation, the unmanned aircraft fleet may be mainly responsible for manned aircraft wingman task, unmanned aircraft systems can accompany the manned aircraft in the area of responsibility, and with the synergy of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, air blockade, the enemy integrated air defense system to implement the attack, and the implementation of offensive air operations!