Talk:AFOH/@comment-14850713-20150403090731

OOC: Got inspired by aircraft design activity in the AIF page...

IC: With the recent heavy losses in aircraft and with the Cobra IIs and Durandals too big for existing aircraft carriers, AFOH has launched the Future Air Combat System (FACS) program to replace the venerable but terribly outdated F4U Corsair fighters and Dauntless SBD bombers. The choice of the program name suggests that unmanned aircraft are being considered. In fact, the reported frontrunner is an upgrade of existing Corsairs and Dauntlesses with a low-cost AI system that improves situational awareness and reaction time, thus getting the most out of the aging airframe designs while eliminating the risk to AFOH's highly-trained pilot corps. This sub-program (designated FACS 1.1) aims to have 40% of the complement of all the existing squadrons made up of the AI-controlled planes. The competing system (FACS 2.1) is a Mach 4 stealth aircraft.