Russia and Ukraine battle daily in the sky. So where are the pilots?

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/ [login to see] /russia-and-ukraine-battle-daily-in-the-sky-so-where-are-the-pilots
Russia and Ukraine are waging a fierce fight in the sky. Russia unleashes drones and missiles. Ukraine often shoots them down with its own missiles, and carries out its own drone strikes.

Yet one thing makes this battle distinctive from all previous air wars of the past century: pilots are rare. And this goes very much against the traditional perception of air combat.

"Top Gun: Maverick is Oscar-nominated this year for Best Picture. And here we are, watching an air war happening. And it looks very different from anything that we see in Top Gun," said Kelly Grieco, with the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.