Apples and Oranges

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today cautioned lawmakers against thinking the military's aircraft recapitalization plans should be based on the simple equation of replacing one plane with another. With the advent of unmanned aerial vehicles as a major form or air power, the one-to-one formula no longer applies, Gates told members of the House Armed Services Committee.

As a notional -- and arguably simplistic -- example, he said it takes eight Reaper drones to perform missions that once required 16 F-16s, while carrying the same amount of weaponry as the manned planes.