4 ms·

I have trouble seeing use-cases for newly developed manned combat aircraft. Starlink(-like) communication has a low enough latency (25 and 60 ms) and is nearly

I have trouble seeing use-cases for newly developed manned combat aircraft. Starlink(-like) communication has a low enough latency (25 and 60 ms) and is nearly unjammable. There are too many satellites to destroy, unless the enemy resorts to outright Kesslerization. In the rare cases where the communication is dropped, some fallback programming / AI can at least return it home.

hef19898 3y ago
Funny enough, re manned combat aircraft, both new initiatoves still forsee pilots. Local sets of eyes are just so damn useful.
GhostVII 3y ago
Having a person in the plane does make shooting it down (or not shooting it down) much more meaningful, which can be important. For example in the South China sea, flying a manned aircraft around is a much stronger statement than flying a drone around. And to me it still seems possible that someone could come up with some jamming technology that prevents drones from communicating with satellites or base stations - and if someone does, you don't want your entire air force to be disabled.
- LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
  That's assuming radio, and not directional maser/laser-beams, I guess?
nradov 3y ago
China wouldn't hesitate to shoot down all of the Starlink satellites in any major conflict.
- kcplate 3y ago
  Seems to me this would be exceedingly difficult considering right now there only about 5000 of them.
- mmh0000 3y ago
  There are a few questions, though. 1 - Is China capable of taking down 5000 satellites, and can they do it quickly enough to matter? 2 - Can China take out the satellites faster than they can be replaced? 3 - If a "major" conflict erupts that calls for the destruction of Starlink (et al.), some of the first "strikes" by the other side will be to reduce China's ability to take out satellites. Do they have the redundant capability to take out Satellites continually? The U.S. government, specifically the Pentagon, has poured so much money into Starlink that they likely already have contingency plans to deal with this exact scenario.

hef19898 3y ago

Funny enough, re manned combat aircraft, both new initiatoves still forsee pilots. Local sets of eyes are just so damn useful.

GhostVII 3y ago

Having a person in the plane does make shooting it down (or not shooting it down) much more meaningful, which can be important. For example in the South China sea, flying a manned aircraft around is a much stronger statement than flying a drone around. And to me it still seems possible that someone could come up with some jamming technology that prevents drones from communicating with satellites or base stations - and if someone does, you don't want your entire air force to be disabled.

LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
That's assuming radio, and not directional maser/laser-beams, I guess?

nradov 3y ago

China wouldn't hesitate to shoot down all of the Starlink satellites in any major conflict.

kcplate 3y ago
Seems to me this would be exceedingly difficult considering right now there only about 5000 of them.
mmh0000 3y ago
There are a few questions, though. 1 - Is China capable of taking down 5000 satellites, and can they do it quickly enough to matter? 2 - Can China take out the satellites faster than they can be replaced? 3 - If a "major" conflict erupts that calls for the destruction of Starlink (et al.), some of the first "strikes" by the other side will be to reduce China's ability to take out satellites. Do they have the redundant capability to take out Satellites continually? The U.S. government, specifically the Pentagon, has poured so much money into Starlink that they likely already have contingency plans to deal with this exact scenario.