No, actually, P-Man is a great melee combatant because he's indestructible (as far as mooks are concerned), capable of flight, and super-strong. And can see really well.
It doesn't matter that he's only got really basic skills, he'll still be capable of putting up a really good fight in melee. Besides, he'll be getting experience long before we get an academy of any sort up and running.
I phrased that poorly. Yes, P-Man can fight. But he could fight better. At least from an irl standpoint, the less collateral damage there is during combat, the more funding, reputation, and trust we will gain from the governments and from the public. I don't see why that wouldn't be a mechanic in here.
Would you fund a superhero program if all of their "saving" the day results in multiple buildings knocked over? I mean, sure, those intrusive drone cameras watching you all the time sure are nice, but it is a shame you no longer have a house.
Also ATA wouldn't just improve PMan either. It could be utilized by Hotshot, and I left wiggle room in there for non supers as well. Making this and
then doing a backup squad project would probably give us a bonus to making said backup squad.
EDIT:
Whatever we do, can we
please not do flying targets with cameras? Any mundane weapon we could stick on a person sized drone would be far outmatched by even the most basic superheroes or villains, and may turn the public against us due to the enormous potential for spying.
Not only that, but there is no way you can reinforce a drone to stand up to a direct hit from a superhero. Rotors are laughably breakable and all they would need to neuter our drones would be some kind of rapid fire weapon or, I don't know, maybe someone with superpowers.