At the crossroads: future "manning" for unmanned aerial vehicles

The current and future state of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) presents a number of challenges to the US Air Force. A new generation of leaders, however, may perceive UAVs as more of an opportunity that a threat. With education, they may appreciate these aircraft for their high-performance maneuvers, their effortless embodiment of the airpower tenet of persistence, or their ability to furnish a squadron's worth of platforms for the cost of a single manned aircraft. Indeed, only a concerted effort in education will effect cultural change in the acceptance of UAVs as part of "the real Air Force."