2 ms·
A tomahawk costs $2M, but it takes 8 years and north of $1M to train a pilot. I know I'm not getting the missile back, but the survivability of manned aircraft
by red-iron-pine 3y ago
A tomahawk costs $2M, but it takes 8 years and north of $1M to train a pilot.
I know I'm not getting the missile back, but the survivability of manned aircraft against a near-peer or peer-competitor may not that great...
Now that pilot may be reusable, but they also come with other challenges, like requiring 1/3 of an aircraft simply for pilot life support. They also get tired, sleepy, lazy, and cannot handle high Gs.
Then there is the logistic overhead of maintaining a re-used aircraft. Again, this has benefits, but for every hour of flight there are like 17 man-hours of maintenance. Plus you need mechanics, a fuel / parts / ammo / tools supply chains, runways, etc.