Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) should complement stealth aircraft, in particular, fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters and B-21 Raider strategic bombers, and not replace the latter, writes Breaking Defense.
“Given the size of the armed forces and military infrastructure of China and Russia, the number of targets that the US Air Force could strike in a future equal conflict could exceed the number of targets attacked in all US air campaigns over the past 30 years combined,” says in the publication.
The article also provides an estimate of the flight range and the mass of weapons carried by aircraft and UAVs, according to which the former bypass the latter. It also argues that improving such characteristics in drones will lead to an increase in the cost and complication of the operation of the latter.
In October, the F-35 Lightning II fighter, due to its stealth and a variety of sensors, was named in the RAND corporation's report as the only aircraft suitable for initial contact with Russian troops in the event of a possible conflict in Europe.
