Recently In Aviation

Flying out of the past, former military (& current professional) aviator (or excellent iNternet poseur) Major Kong has a piece in the Great Orange Satan about Lockheed's infamous F-104 "Starfighter"; haven't read it yet but the pics alone are worth the click, esp. to aficionados of Kodachrome aircraft porn.

Obligatory?Then, the C.N.O. blathers about what's next for fighter/attack aircraft.

“You know that stealth may be over-rated,” [C.N.O.] Greenert said during a speed [sic] at the Office of Naval Research Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo, Washington D.C. “I don’t want to necessarily say that it’s over but let’s face it, if something moves fast through the air and disrupts molecules in the air and puts out heat – I don’t care how cool the engine can be – it’s going to be detectable.”

Science!

And information/intelligence:

... massively increased communications and sensor technology such as having an ability to achieve real-time connectivity with satellites, other aircraft and anything that could provide relevant battlefield information, said Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of analysis at the Teal Group, a Va.-based consultancy.

Bullet point three: No rush, no humans required.

“I don’t think it’s going to be super-duper fast, because you can’t outrun missiles,” he said.

The new aircraft will also have the technological capability to be unmanned.

“The weight that we put on an aircraft due to the pilot is kind of extraordinary. You can take that off and put sensors on there instead,” Greenert explained.

Up in the air, Junior Robo-Birdmen! (This, by the way, is whence the Artificial Intelligence that won't give shit one about human existence will evolve.)