Having graduated its first class of “drone pilots” only this year, the U.S. Air Force is now saying that the growing demand for unmanned aircraft missions is so great that it will have to train more of these new breed of “aces” who never leave the ground than actual cockpit pilots in 2009. The shift in relying on unmanned Predator and Reaper aircraft could even eliminate the need altogether for traditional bombers and fighters when it comes to carrying out aerial surveillance or dropping ordinances and firing air-to-surface missiles on enemy targets, according to Lieutenant General David Deptula, Air Force deputy chief of staff for ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance].