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Neat! What if the treaty didn't stipulate that the "pilot" must pilot the craft - the purpose of the human was to ensure that the "human cost" of war remained a
by plusbryan 11y ago
Neat! What if the treaty didn't stipulate that the "pilot" must pilot the craft - the purpose of the human was to ensure that the "human cost" of war remained at a reasonable level as to thwart senseless violence. Seems like an interesting exploration - who would the "pilots" be, and what (if anything) would they be expected to do while in the craft?
- sp332 11y agoStar Trek had an episode where two planets were fighting. All the attacks were carried out on a computer, then the computed casualties were rounded up and killed in real life. It saved actually damaging infrastructure and wasting resources to build real weapons. There was a human cost, but because war was no longer violent, the people preferred to keep fighting instead of looking for peace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon
- jewel 11y agoHi! Yes, I should have clarified, that's exactly what the treaty was about. In the novel the "pilots" aren't given any command of the plane at all, it is computer controlled with the objectives transmitted from central command. The pilot can play games or watch TV on the fighter's computer but can't send communications since the radio transmissions might help pinpoint its location. So it's a very boring job most of the time with occasional roller-coaster moments of terror. My story tells what happens to one pilot whose plane is damaged during a sortie over Canada and the computer runs out of commands, causing her to suddenly have to control the aircraft.