Air Force eyes 'server room' pilot future

The "Top Gun" era is ending because silicon reaction times fundamentally outclass human synapses in high-stakes aerial combat. Tactical bottlenecks are shifting from physical G-force tolerance to data-link reliability and algorithmic processing speed. Successes with the X-62A VISTA prove AI can manage complex flight dynamics with superhuman precision during dogfights. Treating data as "ammunition" signals a permanent move toward software-defined warfare and autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). This shift raises critical questions about human intuition and ethical judgment in lethal autonomous edge cases.