[Tobba_]

"swarm" means large numbers by definition, otherwise you have... well, plain-old coordination. Large numbers of F-35-sized aircraft is flaunting economics in the face a quite a bit (so I'm sure the US military loves the idea).

[bonesss]

We already have large numbers of F-35 sized aircraft, and are dedicated to having a current stock for the forseeable future, so the economics are already proven.

The issue is not that any given drone is expensive. The issue is that any given manned vehicle with roughly the same profile will involve the same-ish hardware along with expensive life support and safety systems, and a super expensive pilot, and super expensive logistics and possible recovery missions. Plane for plane the drones let us do more with less, justifying their investment during ongoing appropriations. Human pilots will always have a role, but will never be disposable in the way a drone can be.

And, yeah, "swarms" because there is no cookie cutter monolithic answer to what unmanned military craft should look like... Low speed ground hugging smart missiles, ocean based spy capsules in mesh networks, slow speed support craft, high altitude recon craft, in theatre air fire support, air-to-air combat drones, and orbital UAVs can all coordinate. All we know is ever increasing automation and standardization is intersecting with decreasing costs and requirements... very fertile ground for mass production.