: The networked components are already a part of many systems worldwide so
: that's no surprise. The natural progression of technology would push for
: greater automation leading to unmanned land combat systems. I don't know
: much about the maturity of unmanned platform in the Russian Armed Forces
: to say anything more on the matter. But I do have a fun quote that kinda
: sorta applies!

: " The future of air combat. Is it manned or unmanned? I'll tell you, in
: my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's
: instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the
: obvious and discern its outcome, or a pilot's judgment. "

It's a good thing to remember that the guy who said that was a fighter pilot himself. It's like listening to the representative of the local plumber's union explain why good, honest, hard-working American plumbers can never be replaced by non-union scabs.

At the moment, pilots have a better instinct and insight. But robots are improving already. Meanwhile, machines feel no pity, no remorse, no need to take a trip to the bathroom and they absolutely do not let their attention wander. How much would the performance of an F-22 increase if the pilot and his interface with the jet were replaced by a computer?

I'm no expert, but I think that humans are increasingly going to find themselves in an administrator role. Humans make the tactical decisions of where to go and who to shoot, and robots carry them out.

: Honestly at that point I was just comparing the tanks as a whole instead of
: boiling it down to auto loaders. I'm sorry for misleading you there. :P

Apology accepted.

♫And look what I just bought!♫

: I would imagine that the atmospheric performance of a Pelican drops
: ridiculously when they're slugging a Scorpion along. It would probably
: turn into something like dropping a C-17 on the beaches of Normandy. I'd
: rely more on Albatross or something like a space-faring LCT that can lift
: heavy loads into combat without straining itself.

Most of the time, I think Pelicans land Scorpions on the metaphorical beaches of Normandy when the metaphorical fighting has moved on to the metaphorical bocage. Just ahead of the metaphorical Mulberry harbors, to be precise.

In fact, now that I'm thinking about the tank assault in Halo 3, do you think that the UNSC has frigate-sized landing craft?

: Do you think they have booster seats for unaugmented Humans?

Nah. The Marines take turns sitting in each other's laps. There's a reason that the Warthog is known as "The Matchmaker."

: I'd use two remote weapons stations for the machine guns. One atop the turret
: for 360 degree coverage primarily for air defense and the second forward
: of the cabin for everything else.

For air defense? Why not a rack of ASGM-4 missiles and a launcher bolted to the rear of the turret in a vertical-launch position?. The air we're defending is the low-flying Banshee sort, right?