I disagree with the thought that UAV's will be under the direction of manned tactical aircraft. Perhaps a manned control ship of some sort, but not tactical aircraft. The big boss on the ground wants the UAVs giving him eyes on what he wants to see and putting that under the control of a guy out in the field is not the type of decentralized command he's looking for. Think about it--he's already telling you what he wants you to do in your cockpit. If you're not SATCOM capable then someone who is is relaying the instructions.

So, yes, unmanned aircraft ops will continue to soar, and IMHO you can not limit your vision to what's acceptable in today's world. Future transport of cargo will come after the DOD has demonstrated the ability to keep ISR platforms up with a satisfactory safety record, followed by faster moving aircraft (read: more agile and Mk 84-like capable UAVs [not to mention other non-kinetic unmanned weapon systems]). Some would like to think this will happen over the next 10 - 20 years. I don't know what the time line will be, but I don't see it ever coming to the point that any commander is going to let his troops board an aircraft that doesn't have a qualified pilot on board in some capacity in case everything goes to hell. Which means if the Army isn't letting the troops go out on unmanned aircraft the general public sure as hell isn't going to do it.