Killer Drones Converge on California, Ready to Take Off (awesome looking)

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Five years ago, the Pentagon was on cusp of an air-combat revolution. For a few brief, heady months in late 2005, it looked like the U.S. military might soon launch full-scale development of a new class of fast, lethal Unmanned Aerial Vehicles eventually capable of replacing all kinds of fighter jets, from the older F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s to the latest F-22s. But the revolution fizzled when the Air Force abandoned its share of the so-called Joint Unmanned Combat Air System effort. Manned jets continued to dominate, culminating in today’s mammoth, $300-billion F-35 program.

The embers of upheaval kept burning, almost invisibly. The technology from the 2005 effort survived in various forms, slowly maturing amid a growing demand for combat UAVs. Today, no fewer than three separate killer drone designs — two of them direct descendants of the original J-UCAS demonstrators — have converged on two airfields in California for flight tests. The revolution flared up again without many people noticing. While the F-35 still gobbles up the bulk of the Pentagon’s fighter funding, jet-powered killer drones are back — and revolution is once again a real prospect.

High-endurance armed drones such as the General Atomics Predator have been a fixture of U.S. military operations since the mid-’90s air war over the Balkans. Besides being cheaper to buy and operate, robot aircraft carry fuel in place of a pilot and so can stay in the air longer. Plus, if they crash or get shot down, nobody gets hurt. That means the military can assign drones to what one robot industry insider called the “worst down-and-dirty missions that even the nuttiest pilot wouldn’t want to do.”

But today’s drones are “fair-weather” killers, too slow to survive the sophisticated air defenses of, say, China or Iran. To bring the advantages of robot aircraft to high-intensity warfare, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency along with the Air Force and Navy sponsored J-UCAS starting in 2003. Boeing’s X-45 (pictured) competed with the Northrop Grumman-built X-47 to “demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value for a networked system of high performance, weaponized unmanned air vehicles,” according to Darpa.

Source: www.wired.com...

I find this article VERY interesting. Especially with all the drone reports we are getting and the increased use of them in the past 2 weeks in Pakistan/Afganistan by POTUS Obama (the great man-of-peace). What is the cost effectiveness of these programs-when used in real life?

I would have to assume pretty darn good. Notice we don't hear too many stories about military pilots getting shot down and caputured? Hmmmm. Then, I say the price is worth it. On that front.

On another front is the Slippery SLope of Making war easy-taking the human factor out of it. Making it much more easier to surpress a lesser power-by machines alone. Scary. Think about it-from being on the lesser powers side.... ugh.

Matter of fact, I say this technology, mostly developed by the USA will ultimately be copied and improved on and then be used against us (USA & Allies) that will lead to our downfall. Another blip in the history of Earth.

Oh, here is some more on that mentioned theme: Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems:

On November 1, 2005, management of the J-UCAS program transitioned to the new Joint Program Office headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This is the archived website developed by the DARPA J-UCAS office during its management of the program.

The Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program is a joint DARPA/Air Force/Navy effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value for a networked system of high performance, weaponized unmanned air vehicles to effectively and affordably prosecute 21st century combat missions, including Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), surveillance, and precision strike within the emerging global command and control architecture.

The J-UCAS program combines the efforts that were previously known as the DARPA/USAF Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) and the DARPA/USN Naval Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) programs.

www.darpa.mil...

Oh, on a good and positive note. People who didn't qualify as actual pilots...can be drone pilots. After playing Battlefield: Bad Company recently and getting to do some fighting/damaging/killing with that thing.... I'm all for it.
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This could easily be me..... well-with a little less hair and maybe a few pounds more. Might have to make that chair a little wider..lol

Yup..Yup....that's what we need, more KILLER drones...piloted from afar, cowardly and inhuman like is what they are. Please I want my Veri-chip implanted right now, so if I'm bad a killer drone can find me and do the right thing.

reply to post by conspiracytheoristIAM



That's what I am saying. The Slippery Slope to the wrong side of things.

Take the human element out of it-meaning the up close and personal, things get a little dicy-ethically speaking.

" Plus, if they crash or get shot down, nobody gets hurt."

but if they crash or get shot down the enemy now has our technology in their hands.

reply to post by conspiracytheoristIAM


Or you could choose not to get your verichip and go strugle out in the wilderness for alittle over 3 years,until it's overthrown.

Originally posted by anon72
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Looks to me as if humans still control them. guess that it's still a human's decision when you die, ethics problem solved. well... that is as soon as we teach COD addicts morals... guess we got ethics problems with or without the drones.

As for leaking the plans to another country to use we have made that simple in the modern world. Go to Wikileaks today to download the plans to your own drone aircraft today so that you no longer need to convince others to fight for your ideals, you can send drones from the comport of your living room today. (sorry, been beginning to realize the full implications of this lately... even if they don't post blueprints. On the bright side another government may leak their improved plans for it a while later.