{"id":19597,"date":"2018-07-11T19:30:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T19:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/11\/why-an-unmanned-fighter-fleet-isnt-yet-viable-in-the-words-of-britains-air-force-chief\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:06:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:06:36","slug":"why-an-unmanned-fighter-fleet-isnt-yet-viable-in-the-words-of-britains-air-force-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2018\/07\/11\/why-an-unmanned-fighter-fleet-isnt-yet-viable-in-the-words-of-britains-air-force-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Why an unmanned fighter fleet isn\u2019t yet viable, in the words of Britain\u2019s Air Force chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LONDON \u2015 Step back two years to the start of the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow, when few people in Europe were talking about a new manned fighter. But today it seems to be a topic on everyone\u2019s mind<\/a>. The reason, according to the head of Britain\u2019s Royal Air Force, is that the technology required to operate an unmanned fighter fleet has not yet advanced sufficiently to make that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you trace this back to 2010, if not before, people were saying we have built the last generation of manned combat aircraft. That view was based on how people saw technology development at that stage. But time has moved on and people have realized that it isn\u2019t easy in the combat air part of it,\u201d according to Air Chief Marshal Stephen Hillier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can have highly sophisticated ISR capabilities like the [General Atomics] Protector, but in terms of the manned combat air mission operating in contested, high-intensity airspace against demanding threat, we have yet to see a technological path to take the person out of that platform,\u201d he told reporters on the sidelines of the air power conference in London on July 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to get full coverage and interviews from the Farnborough Airshow!<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even leaving aside fixing the legal, moral and ethical issues surrounding unmanned combat air vehicles, Hillier said he was unable to put a date on when Britain could field a force without a pilot in the cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe future air force will have a greater portion of unmanned platforms than we currently have, but I cannot yet forecast a date when we are completely unmanned,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t say it will never happen, and we have to be sufficiently agile to respond as technology develops, but no one, including the U.S., has yet seen the path to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Air Chief Marshal Stephen Hillier walks with Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Air Force 100 ceremony on July 10, 2018, in London, England. (Chris Jackson\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hillier\u2019s questioning of whether the technology to support an unmanned air combat capability at this time is viable seems to be vindicated by the fact Britain and a Franco-German alliance are both taking the first steps toward new manned, sixth-generation fighter programs with in-service dates around the end of the 2030s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. is working on its own programs, most noticeably a Northrop Grumman-led effort to build a long-range bomber for the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowering expectations<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t that long ago some in Europe were talking about having an unmanned combat air capability ready for service by 2030. The British and French have had a joint future unmanned combat air study underway for several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But progress stalled this year, with French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly saying the British were instead more interested in pursuing a surveillance version of the vehicle. France continues to be interested in a combat variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\t