The role of unmanned aerial vehicles in future will increase, Russian Air Force Commander-in-chief Maj. Gen. Viktor Bondarev told Interfax. "The trends for weapons of armed struggle, including combat aviation, give reason to believe that sixth-generation military aerial vehicles will be mostly unmanned. This concerns fighters, bombers and strategic bombers," the commander said.

"The technical progress and information technology development is occurring at such a pace that a man, pilot, operator already has to stretch himself to the limit of his physical and psychological abilities," Viktor Bondarev said.

"And what will happen tomorrow, at the next stage of scientific and technological development? Man simply cannot keep up, he cannot realize all the potential of new next-generation aircraft. Involuntarily, he has already delegated some of his duties to the machine, be it an artificial intellect or an on-board supercomputer," the commander said.

Both Russia and other countries "are working on the drone theme, work on strategic drones is going at full speed," he said.

"They are keeping low profile. But we know that such work is being carried out. And it has already yielded some results. Every now and one can see from stories on military operations in any particular region the results of unmanned aviation.

Many drones are involved in operations conducted by the U.S. and their allies in the Middle and Near East. It will suffice to recall how one U.S. drone recently became a trophy of the Iranian air defense force," the Air Force commander said.

Source: Voice of Russia