The Navy's moves seem sensible here. The next generation of naval drones are being used for in-air refueling and reconnaissance. You may say it's because we don

The Navy's moves seem sensible here. The next generation of naval drones are being used for in-air refueling and reconnaissance. You may say it's because we don't "trust" drones -- but the fact is, we are a LONG way from fully autonomous anything. (Saying otherwise is simply fantasizing over an indeterminate time-frame.) Humans will be in the loop for the foreseeable future, especially when it comes to pulling the trigger. Even more so with fast movers like the F-18. Consider: why do we need attack aircraft if cruise missiles are good enough for all bombing roles? They aren't. > I predict that in the next major conflict, aircraft carriers will be utterly useless, most of our big flat-tops will be sunk in the first couple months Aircraft carriers (and submarines) will be critical to victory in any major conflict, especially in the Pacific. We do have to keep them afloat though [1]. Otherwise we're likely to see an effective stalemate if nobody can maintain control of the seas, the US is simply too far out of reach for most of the world. At that point, we may well be in nuclear territory... > bulk of combat will fall to a large fleet of inexpensive drones Air combat? Eh. (See my earlier comment about fantasizing...) But you can't win with air power alone. I know you were being tongue-in-cheek with the Terminator references, but lest the Internets take you seriously: we are even farther away from robotic "boots on the ground" than we are from fully autonomous flying drones, and we're not even close to the latter. If we really wanted to speculate on a somewhat-realistic, near-future, large-scale conflict, I'd consider what happens when all our satellites are blown out of the sky, perhaps with the resulting Kessler syndrome. No more drones for you. [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492804/The-uninvited-guest-Chinese-sub-pops-middle-U-S-Navy-exercise-leaving-military-chiefs-red-faced.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492804/The-uninvited...