Elon Musk Sparks Controversy: Drones Will Replace Manned Fighter Jets, Says Tech Mogul

Reflecting a conversation that has grown increasingly bitter in the circles of military aviation technology, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently claimed that manned fighter jets are ‘obsolete,’ singling out the F-35 fighter aircraft as a particularly expensive and ineffective weapon system. Musk, well known for his provocative views on technology, pointed out that drones would become the primary means of aerial combat in the future, stating that investment only in super advanced fighter aircraft poses an unnecessary threat to human lives and huge spending.

Musk’s criticism is based on the F-35, a fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin. The now infamous businessman insists that the very design of the aircraft and the immense costs of development are proof that the project is fatally flawed. Tweeting a video of drones flying in specific formations, Musk stressed the capabilities of self-flying vehicle systems in changing the tenets of warfare and painted a bleak picture of human pilots enduring future war.

Some military technologists including Mauro Gilli a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have criticized Musk’s claims. Of course, as Gilli was also first to point out, the F-35 is not just an aircraft that one flies, it has electronics, and it has strategic features. The researcher posts that with such an aircraft in operation, it poses a threat to strategic competitors such as Russia & China hence developing better technological deterrents, a role that cannot be provided by simple drone systems.