The aircraft flew up to speeds of 1,200mph. DARPA did not reveal which aircraft won the dogfight.

  • diffusive@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Training a combat pilot used to cost (in early 2000, not sure now) 10M€ for a NATO member.

    Find me a modern jet that costs so little. Regardless of what politicians say, human life has a price… and it is waaaay below a jet (even including the training)

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Yeah, but procurement of a combat pilot has about a two-decade lead time. You can build more jets a lot quicker (potentially even including the R&D phase).

      • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        Also as this war expands to become planet-wide, industrial output of drones will expand many orders of magnitude.

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      It’s not just money. It’s time, public perception, quantity trainers, quantity student seats etc

      A drone is ready the moment it comes off the assembly line, is flashed with software, and tested.