Gone, reduced to atoms

Well, no but actually yes. See the countless videos of people in Ukraine flying a DJI into a Russian airbase and just dropping fucking grenades on planes.
Also, consider:
We already have military drones that are practically fully automated, and we had our first fully autonomous kill decision five years ago now.
DARPA did some tests with an AI piloted fighter jet in 2022, it successfully killed all human enemy jets 5/5 times.
The weakest part of an air superiority platform is the squishy meatbag flying it. Without having to worry about keeping a human alive, you can make air superiority fighters that are vastly more capable with high-g maneuvering and more compact air frames.
Now, Elon's not talking about air superiority drones, he's talking about drone swarms. Drone swarms ARE a real threat, but AFAIK they're more of an infrastructure threat in that they're usually worried about in the context of disabling ships, airports, etc. not individual fighter jets. For that, you get Vadim to tie a grenade to his DJI.
- I have one piece of Military classified tech that makes every plane useless. New war is never going to use drones or planes or they will lose everything.
  
  It's an anime sword, isn't it?
- The weakest part of an air superiority platform is the squishy meatbag flying it.
  Only true of 4th Gen jets. 5th Gen doesn't need as high maneuverability. If they did, you'd see further developments in combat drugs and water breathing suits.
- New weapons almost never replace old ones, they supplement. Drones aren't going to replace piloted jets, but they can absolutely supplement them in the form of wingmen. Drones won't replace artillery, guided missiles or grenades, but they will replace SOME of them.
  A drone swarm will never replace a jet, but it might replace some artillery bombardments.

The trick is to use the drone while the plane is sleeping in the hangar

The documentary piece called Ace Combat 7 told me that jets would win.

There is a lot more improvement that can be made to drones (Coordination, guidance, speed, etc) and advancement in battery technology seems fairly inevitable
- Unless the improvements include making them fly at the same speed and height as fighter jets I'm not seeing the endgame.
  
  They don't have to be faster, they just need to be in front of the fighter jets and small enough that they can't be seen until too late

But how do you get the crewed aircraft to hold still long enough?
- I think we are going to be getting to a point where signal jamming is going to become a more critical part of warfare. A military base isn't going to allow any kind of transmission to occur nearby in order to protect itself.
  
  This is why laser targeting is a thing. Cant jam a laser beam.
- Drones could act as automated movable flack. Just get a bunch to get near the flight path and explode. There are definitely drones with a range way over 1 mile.
  
  Or put some pieces of high-carbon steel/titanium on the drone and just let them get sucked into the intake.
  
  The range needed could be 30.000 feet ...

Elon is just dishing out the same Russian talking points as Pierre Sprey. Updated to acknowledge Ukraine. High tech weapons could never defeat Russian ingenuity.
Of course they want to talk about the massive impact of drones! Distracts from the abysmal performance of Russia's military. If these grifters were actually just neutral observers amused at military incompetence, they don't have to look to the future. Aug'22 has enough unforced error anecdotes to last a lifetime.
- Ehhhh, drones have meaningfully transformed the battlefield. It's why trench warfare came back; basically every inch of the battlefield is under constant surveillance. The instant a large number of people jump up out of a trench, some drone operator is talking to an artillery crew. You'd best believe that our intelligence and defense apparatus was taking extensive notes. Emphasis on was.
  
  Oh don't worry, Russia will happily sell their sabotaged notes

How many feet in a mile?
- Five tomatoes (5280)
  
  Thank you for the mnemonic.
- Easy. One mile is 1609.34 meters. One meter is 3.28 feet. 1609.34 times 3,28 is 5278,63.
  
  So you just need about six drones to reach the necessary altitude..
- Depends on your shoe size
  
  Doesn't it also depend on how long the mile is?
- It's 5280. It's not hard to remember if you have an IQ above absolute freezing.
  
  YSK only three countries on Earth use the Imperial system of measurement, Myanmar, Liberia, and the U.S. The hostility is not needed.
  
  What's absolute freezing? Did you mash up absolute zero, as in zero degrees Kelvin, with freezing, as in zero degrees Celsius?

Clearly at speed or altitude the aircraft should be safe, but it is vulnerable on the ground, at take off and landing. Obviously there are counter measures. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-65591023
- Jets are usually most vulnerable on the ground. This is another attack profile the air field defenses will need to guard against, along with cruise missiles, stealth bombers, hypersonic missiles, and many more.