[TheRealThing]

The tank is far from a weapon of the past, and it was a lot more than just jobs lost, it was the fact that shutting down the factory would cripple our ability to produce more tanks in a time of war. Couple that with the parts demand for the abrams and the possibility of foreign export of one of the premier combat vehicles in the world it would have been crazy to shut that factory down. Our country has not experienced full scale war in a very long time, and the last time we did we were woefully unprepared for it. that should never happen again. As for the fighters I agree, the UAV will replace piloted craft soon enough.

I can see unmanned aircraft taking over reconnaissance and other routine missions. I don't see them being advanced enough to assume combat assignments, especially combat that would mean taking on fighters from other nations. There aren't a lot of situations that are more fluid than those on the battlefield. Dog fights between American UAV's and enemy piloted fighters are an extremely unlikely possibility. Even bombing runs require split second decisions that are likely outside the capability of UAV's.

I remember the same kind of talk when the F4 became our front line fighter jet. Her long range AIM 9's and sidewinder V7 missiles were to eliminate the VFR dog fight. Kills would be made via radar lock over the horizon somewhere. Long story made short is, it didn't happen that way at all. Of course, like they say, seeing's believing. However, according to Air Force Chief Scientist Dr. Mica Endsley, things won't be changing very much for the for next 15 years at least; "While the AF manned airfleet will shrink slightly through 2027, RPA fleets and missions will grow significantly, with commensurate challenges in air safety, control, and cyberspace security. The US is being outpaced in military expenditure by the rest of world, which will likely lead to an increase in capability and diversity of international military air forces. Commercial aviation anticipates a doubling in air traffic volume, with a possible tripling in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030."

LOL, at the rate things are changing, it's hard to predict the future of our own strengths, much less our enemy's. FWIW, I don't take Dr. Endsley's comments to be quite as dismissive of our potential foes military abilities nor the growing challenge they represent to our continued safety with quite the same level of optimism as some on here seem to have.