It would appear to be a step back to the pre-Vietnam War military “advisor” era, because US Air Force military advisors in Iraq will be in lock-step with Iraqi airmen during all manner of operations. The Air Force has sent a 100-person group comprising a variety of career fields on a yearlong deployment to Iraq to train and modernize the Iraq Air Force. Lt. Col. Robert Lindsay, a veteran helicopter pilot, says: If the Iraqi airmen “go on a rescue mission, we’ll have a guy in the back of the helicopter with them. If they want to support their ground forces on a combat mission, we’ll have someone in the pilot’s seat next to them. We go where they go.”
The Air Force should build its capacity and striking power with collaborative combat aircraft but must put the teaming aspect of the new class of weapons first, getting the concepts and software right at the outset to ensure that autonomous airplanes do what’s needed and expected—and can be trusted—argues a…