"Stealth" Redux

Want to see the future of Navy carrier-based air power? Watch the animation above, then check out this link for more information. By the way, if you’re waiting for Jessica Biel to appear, you might want to rent the (in my opinion) absolutely horrible film “Stealth,” which was released in 2005. Who knows what I’ll be up when the first automated squadron deploys (apparently projected for around 2025), but it’s exciting technology nonetheless with broad applicability. After all, if we can launch and recover airplanes from a moving ship, employ their weapons systems and sensors, and use them to refuel other aircraft in flight autonomously, Moore’s Law (and Northrop Grumman’s fierce desire to run a profitable enterprise) suggests that one day in the near future you will board a civilian airliner without a human pilot touching the controls for the entire duration of the flight. Granted this will require truly massive changes to the way we operate airports, airlines, and the national air traffic control system (among other things), but how cool would that be?!