Last Manned Fighter

This research paper addresses the question of: Can and should the Air Force pursue a unmanned multi-role fighter to replace manned systems? Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have demonstrated enormous intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities in both flexibility and persistence. Current and emerging technology may permit unmanned fighters to replace conventional multi-role aircraft in the face of high endurance missions, evolving threat systems and political pressure to preserve human life. This research is framed in the context of a specialized weapon in military aviation; an unmanned multi-role fighter capable of replacing manned systems and their respective missions. This paper gives a brief history of unmanned air vehicles and their employment as weapons to demonstrate the evolution from ISR platform to unmanned combat air vehicle, then evolves into two main sections of "can we" and "should we" pursue this avenue of development. The primary means of answering the research question is both technical and philosophical. Before being able to answer if the Air Force should pursue an unmanned fighter it is necessary to determine if it is technically feasible for such a system. A methodical analysis of mission subsets and common tasks that fighters cu