"Video game warfare" The drones.

I watched this program on 60 mins the other night.www.cbsnews.com... There is somthing about it that just doesn't seem right.
I apologize beforehand as my thread is more questions than answers.

I know they have their place in combat, but are they being over used? or do you think they will become over used in the future?

The reporters question at 7.55 in the video summed it up for me.
I wonder how many mistakes are made, and how much do these mistakes actually mean to the Air force?
Is there some one over seeing these operations? are war crimes being commited?
do they take away the human emotion from the battlefield?

how will this change warfare in the future, if two super powers are going at it? What's next?
Will they be usd for other purposes?
www.theblaze.com...

I don't mind them useing them for survalence in the U.S., to me it's the same as a manned plane but if they arm them it's a whole different story. I am all for drones being used in combat the military has been developing unmanned ground vehicles that I hope will be put into production soon.

reply to post by Grimpachi
from what i have gathered, it is no diff than having human fly in or do the op, for there are controlled by a person, if it launches a missile or drop's a bomb, or shoots a gun, all have the same C and C... a human is the one that pulls the trigger er punches a button.

reply to post by bekod


Dont get me wrong, if my son or daughter went to war I would much rather them operating UAV's than being on the front line.

What scares me is when does it stop. If both sides in a war are fighting from underground using unmanned vehicles, what happens next
The old "mines bigger than yours" would only lead to WMD's being unleashed.

And my biggest problem is

I wonder how many mistakes are made, and how much do these mistakes actually mean to the Air force?
Is there some one over seeing these operations? are war crimes being commited?

I can picture kids playing with sticks being mistaken for enemy etc.

The problem with armed UAVs is that firstly
Yes it's just a big computer game - playing modern warfare but getting paid for it - the enemy is on a Video screen usually in green (IR) or black and white (thermal) also why soldiers can find it easier to engage the enemy when using night vision goggles - same principle - you see a computer game
But my biggest problem is that when an aggressor can conduct a war when none of their lives are at risk over an enemy that does put his life on the line is immoral and plainly wrong
The act of war carries no penalty or sacrifice to the users of the drone - just the cost of the missile there fore there is less reasoning against war

Originally posted by Neocrusader
The problem with armed UAVs is that firstly
Yes it's just a big computer game - playing modern warfare but getting paid for it - the enemy is on a Video screen usually in green (IR) or black and white (thermal) also why soldiers can find it easier to engage the enemy when using night vision goggles - same principle - you see a computer game
But my biggest problem is that when an aggressor can conduct a war when none of their lives are at risk over an enemy that does put his life on the line is immoral and plainly wrong
The act of war carries no penalty or sacrifice to the users of the drone - just the cost of the missile there fore there is less reasoning against war

I guess you would rather people fight with swords, sticks, and stones-same principle.You're also wrong about it being easier with night vision goggles. Night vision goggles make it very difficult to acquire targets. If you think that being in the field and coming under fire that looking through night vision goggles which the screen is green make things like a videogame you have no idea what you're talking about. UAVs have saved lives including mine. They have their place in warfare.

I believe this thread was about UAVs being used in the United States. I think that will be a useful tool as long as they are not armed weapons. Originally UAVs were used for surveillance and tracking which is what they're being put to use for again here in the US. I do not have a problem with that.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Sorry friend if you took me wrong
Drones are a great piece of kit especially in the surveillance and target acquisition role but armed drones where as limited to use such as in support of ground troops are becoming the front line troops
For example the strikes in Pakistan I'm not arguing the reasons or politics but drones are tearing around blowing up legitimate targets and regrettably causing some collateral damage but the fact is no one on the drones 'side' is putting their life directly at risk or are even on the same side of the world infact their in their friendly home country (admittedly currently ground crews are required and all the spill out from its base of ops but they are aircraft carrier deplyable and even aircraft deploy able so I've been told ) where as the opposing force is forced to sacrifice lives for their cause if a drones shot down you just send another and buy a new one
so regardless He with the most money wins
And becose of that lack of risk to friendly life there will be less reasoning against war

And with my remarks with regards to NVG's
I have personally spent countless hours on operations in NVG'S and although I don't expirience the "sensation" I know a few that have, admittedly they are ......shall we say younger And this may be the source
Too much call of duty ?
You look older than them dude - hell a little older than me so it may just be something hard for us to relate to
I've spoken to a few of them in quite some depth on the sly as I'm also a Qualified militairy mental trauma manager
So it's my job and natrally my duty to keep an eye on my troops for anomalies shall we say and what they had to say just intrigued me one of my most experienced lads said that in a CQB environment it really made him think about how desensitising the games he plays could be

Dude by the looks of you we've probably had our boots in the same sand more than once (i must sort out a pic at some point lol)

Incredibly, one third of US military aircraft are now unmanned drones. Will pilots in the cockpit become obsolete? Will the next Top Gun movie star an Intel processor?

www.popsci.com...

We're seeing a trend of more laws and stricter laws.

Combine that with more tech to find/identify anyone violating those laws...

People saying they're ok with surveillance drones in america are crazy. Do you think law enforcement agencies are going to get nicer at some point and stop being corrupt/doing whatever they want or "can?" Sure seems to be going the opposite direction, and it's not "ok" that we're making it so much easier for them.

Sorry I must add
My original comments were aimed at the OP' questions as I hadent seen the vid yet and not much referred to the use in the US

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel
I would say yes , mac 4 and do a 9or11 G turn , be able to "lock on" and fire at multiple targets with out one miss,[Air and ground] no pilot could do that, we might have that aircraft now or in the works.