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Elon Musk harshly criticizes the F-35, calling it inefficient and outdated, while arguing that autonomous drones are the future of military aviation, promising more efficiency, lower costs and safety in combat operations.
If there’s one thing Elon Musk does well, it’s challenging the status quo. This time, the target of his criticism isn’t a conventional industry, but military aviation. Musk has declared that manned fighter jets like the F-35 are outdated. For him, the future of aerial combat belongs to drones. Is he right, or is this vision too bold?
Elon Musk's controversial statement
Elon Musk, known for his revolutionary ideas, did not hold back in his criticism of manned fighter jets. In particular, he targeted the F-35, the United States' most advanced fifth-generation fighter. In his words: “Fighter planes with pilots are obsolete.” A phrase that caused an uproar in the military world.
Musk has called the F-35 an “expensive fossil,” highlighting its technical issues and development delays. He says the money invested in these projects would be better spent on autonomous drones. This view reflects his belief in technology as a tool for efficiency, both in terms of costs and safety.
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The Costs and Challenges of the F-35
The F-35 program has been the subject of criticism for years. Despite its technological innovations, the jet has faced issues including high costs, delays and operational failures.
For Musk, the F-35 is a perfect example of how military planning can be ineffective. He argues that the attempt to create a multi-role aircraft has resulted in a product that is not specialized in any specific area. The numbers bear out the problem: billions have been spent on a project that still does not fully meet expectations.
Why is Musk betting on drones?
Musk's argument goes beyond criticism of the F-35. He believes drones are the answer to the challenges of modern aerial combat.
Drones can operate without putting human lives at risk, while costing less to develop and maintain. For Musk, this is not just a logical choice, but an inevitable evolution. The war of the future, in his vision, will be dominated by swarms of agile and lethal drones.
Drones are already transforming modern combat, and Musk wants to take this trend to the next level. He sees drones as opportunity to create strategies more intelligent and economical combat strategies.
Imagine a battlefield where hundreds of drones work in sync, like a school of fish dodging predators. This metaphor illustrates how drones could replace fighter jets in highly complex missions, eliminating the need for human pilots.
Drones vs. Fighter Jets: What Does the Future Hold?
Musk’s ideas raise a crucial question: Is the world ready to abandon manned fighter jets? Or is there still room for humans in command?
While Musk believes drones are the answer, critics warn about the impact of this shift. For example, the US military supremacy relies on technologies like the F-35 to intimidate rivals like China and Russia. Replacing them with drones could weaken that strategic advantage.
Elon Musk, once again, challenges conventions and proposes a futuristic vision that could change military aviation. Whether drones will truly replace fighter jets remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: Musk is forcing the world to rethink what “air superiority” means in the technological age.
Why create drones for combat?
Since it would be more viable to create things to help people than to fight in a war
Dude, don't you see what's happening in the world?
It reminds me a lot of “Ted Faro” from Horizon Zero Dawn.
They share the same vision… 🙂
Machines are replacing humans in many areas. In the automotive industry, almost all work is done by robots. It will be no different in military aircraft, where artificial intelligence, implemented in robot drones, will be much more efficient than human operation. Once again, Tony Stark is right. I just hope Spielberg is wrong, lol, and that machines, in the future, will not decide to exterminate us obsolete humans.
Elon Musk is right about almost everything! However, humans have not yet created an AI to operate a drone so that it has the situational awareness that only humans have, the right choices to be made in fractions of a second. Another topic is dogfighting. Drones are used for attack, and they are indeed efficient, but for airspace defense, if there is a saturation attack by drones or missiles, it is already observed that anti-aircraft batteries miss something. Imagine with thousands of drones attacking a certain region? We already have the technology to create autonomous vectors for remotely controlled attacks. However, the importance of dogfighting is being forgotten by Elon Musk because we still do not have the technological capacity to operate an advanced AI to make decisions like a pilot (whose training in some cases costs millions and lasts years) in a 1v1 aerial combat.