Top Gun in the New Age

It was the summer of 1986 and I was in a movie theatre when I saw a movie that inspired many to go out and join the Navy in the hopes of becoming a Naval aviator. The film was "Top Gun" staring Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards and a plethora of other then-famous actors. Incidentally it marked one of the first occasions that Meg Ryan appeared on screen albeit for a brief part but I digress. The purpose of today's blog was not to recall the careers that could have been and never were in Hollywood but about miltiary aviation and the future that appears to be cresting the horizon these days. Before seeing "Top Gun" I already loved anything aviation (or space) related and the moviem ore or less cemented that love. More than anything else in the film, I (like most guys) loved the aerial dogfight scenes and it was the part that I recreated the most with toys in hand.

At one point I had the desire to join and serve in the military so that I could recreate some of those aviation scenes with actual aircraft as opposed to toys but alas life is full of twists and turns and it was not to be. But that didn't mean that I couldn't live out some of my fantasies of piloting. Flight simulation and aviation related games are something that have long been part of my suite of software on any computer I've owned and I have been a long time fan of most any aviation related game. If it was realistic then I wanted to play it to at least get an essence of what actual aviators would experience when flying a plane. I have a couple of simulators at home that are so realistic that apparently on full realism mode you have to go through the proper sequence of button pushing to get the engine to start before you can even close the canopy and get to flying.

But I used to wonder if this would ever amount to anything more than fantasy role-playing. I don't have to wonder any longer. In an age when drone or unmanned aviation is becoming more and more common place, flight simulators may soon become the new pilot's academy and Tom Cruise may yet be able to make a sequel to "Top Gun" despite getting on in age. It was recently reported in the news that the first class of 'pilots' to graduate from the Air Force's Weapons School (the Air Force version of the Navy's Top Gun) was imminent. This is historic in the sense that for the first time, pilots who fly their battles from the comfort of a computer workstation are learning in depth how to use unmanned drones in combat type situations.

Already drones have been used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan and it isn't surprising that there are more plans on the horizon. Aerospace companies are already developing the next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that will not only be able to do reconaissance but also fight more than the current crop. At present, UAVs are capable of carrying limited amounts of ordanance which can then be delivered on target but the future has visions of UAVs with the capability of carrying as much as current fighter and bomber aircraft but have the added benefit of longer range and less need to put pilots in danger. This is key because if history is any guide, more than aircraft the need for pilots is greater. During the Battle of Britain during World War II, Britain was able to hold its own not only due to the the British industry churning out planes at a rapid clip but also because British pilots could be rescued and returned to their squadrons as many battles took place over British territory.

Now with the advent of UAVs it's possible for all pilots to survive catastrophic problems in their planes because they won't be aboard them. That's not to say that the future is set and all wars will be fought from the comfort of our own homes (though visions of armies fighting using their XBoxes doesn't seem all that outlandish anymore) but it will certainly change the face of war. One things which certainly has an impact is when the loss of life in a war (any war) probably makes people realize just how precious a commodity life really is. But when you take away that human factor and things look to be more like a video game than anything else, it is easy to become disconnected. While I think UAVs make fighting a bit safer, I hope that the human element is never completely removed. I don't really have visions of a takeover by the machines a la "The Terminator" but more that we will artificially remove our humanity instead.