Fighter aircraft technology has, for decades, been design-limited to the low-tech specifications of a human.  The airframes, etc., can withstand 12 g maneuvers.  Do that to a pilot and you've got strawberry jam in the cockpit.

Also the reaction times and experience of a human pilot are (1) bad compared to cybernetic decision speed and (2) 1:1, with a cybernetic, expert system, in control every "pilot" would have the ability and experience of a Top-Gun pilot instructor.  No more steep learning curve for new pilots: the operator hits the "evade" or "attack" button and Bob's your uncle.

Given the fuel requirements for Mach 5+ I think that would be the top speed, used during transition from base to patrol/combat area.  In those areas "loiter" would be the normal flight speed, only going higher during actual combat, as a predictive guess.


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre