Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
One example of good use of manned fighters is psychologically dominate an opponent. The sight of contrails above you that you can't do a damn thing about must be a daunting one. We don't have any drones available now that could do that.
Why does a manned craft have more psychological impact than an unmanned one? Does the guy on the ground know which is which?

Plus, doesn't the idea of visible contrails run counter to the idea of avoiding air defenses?

Seems to me that there is even greater psychological impact when the guy on the ground doesn't see anything and all the sudden stuff blows up.