As a former soldier, I find the idea of having necessities arrive where needed without risk of life a good idea. I suspect, if the USAF is having issues finding pilots, eliminating the need is a reasonable reaction.
I think the picture of a huge plane chosen for the story is likely warping the message. If the contractor is starting with a Cessna, perhaps the Air Force will start with smaller planes also. The amount of resources involved in the safety of a C17 flight would likely justify a human crew in almost every flight.
More likely we might see a fleet of those new Cessna twins being developed to serve forward air fields and later maturing into a solution for Fed Ex or similar.