These New Drones Are Like Nothing The World Has Ever Seen

I guess we can surmise where the next conventional arms race is going - to the skies. Drone technology is growing at an exponential rate and the competition is going to be fierce. Drones offer many advantages over traditional human-piloted aircraft; faster, more maneuverable, mission flexibility, size constraints, savings on training pilots, and more.

I found this article that gives us a look at what they are ready to show the public - God knows what they aren't showing. This is to me the scariest development in warfare since the development of bioweapons.

These UAVs — some in development, some testing, and some already in service — are part of a global competition to gain aerial superiority.

Here's a Russian entry in the drone competition - the Mikoyan Skat:

picture credit: pycckue /wikipedia commons

Plenty more pictures inside giving a good overview.
www.businessinsider.com...

The next time you see something strange in the skies or perhaps even on a flatbed trailer you might want to use this article for quick reference.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I think drones are a mistake, if the wrong thing fails inside them and they crash into foreign soil, especially if they are loaded with explosives, it could cause war.

At least if there is a human piloting aircraft there are measures he/she can take to try and avoid an incident.

On the other side of the argument though, some are pretty impressive.

The technology is amazing. We all know that they will be used domestically though. I think that is a terrible mistake, and a huge invasion of privacy.

reply to post by woogleuk


What troubles me most is the detachment of the human from the craft. They will have to rely completely on sensors or human intelligence on the ground for guidance.
Autonomous drones are already in production and what's to say someone couldn't hack it and bring it under their control instead.
These are the Cadillacs of the drone world, what worries me most will be the tiny ones you can barely see that they will employ by the thousands.
It's one thing to try to shoot a goose, a whole other thing to swat a swarm of mosquitoes.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I try to imagine the following "creature" stepping out of the craft in the OP, after the craft having landed in some remote village in Africa or the Amazonas or something.

Google Video Link

Ive worked air frames. . . the only thing missing is probally the thing thats the most frightening.

Make these self repairing and you are in business, works with every machine. .

If we make a self repairing manufacturing line we also would be boss.

cheers, love yer vibe btw

Originally posted by Treespeaker
Ive worked air frames. . . the only thing missing is probally the thing thats the most frightening.

Make these self repairing and you are in business, works with every machine. .

If we make a self repairing manufacturing line we also would be boss.

cheers, love yer vibe btw

i for one welcome our robot overlords

It is indeed a scary development in warfare.
Thanks for the link.

Welcome to the "Drone age"

reply to post by Asktheanimals


There will be no world war 3. Only the slow death of religion.

We will seek to create the ultimate weapon.... God. The day we find the technological revolution was the budding of a synthetic flower.

reply to post by woogleuk


There is a human piloting the drone...

reply to post by Asktheanimals

I found this article that gives us a look at what they are ready to show the public - God knows what they aren't showing. This is to me the scariest development in warfare since the development of bioweapons.

What they aren't showing? Something scarier looking you mean? Form follows function (note the similarity of the Russian design to the US one), no matter what's on the inside the outside is going to look pretty much the same so there's not much reason not to show the latest and the greatest.

I think bioweapons are much scarier. The targeting is not nearly as selective.

reply to post by Domo1


Lol Domo, no there isn't, well, not in the sense that I was referring to. There is a huge difference to someone sitting in the cockpit and someone sitting in the operations center controlling it.

Someone who is physically in control, and not remotely has extra options available in case of hardware failure.

Actually, that is a good point, are these new ones fully automatic, or is there a controller sitting comfortably miles away?

Hey I have one of those great unverifiable third party hearsay stories for you guys....A few years ago before all this drone talk was going on a relative of mine told me about things that were in the works, as in autonomous drones which dont need human intervention which are able to locate and identify targets, and even call in other drones as support...all without human intervention.
Considering the pace at which things are advancing I think this person may have had some kind of valid knowledge on the subject.

Unverifiable food for thought.......

I think bioweapons are much scarier. The targeting is not nearly as selective.

right down to the food we eat, the culture and media we consume.

amazing to think there are groups of people just working away on projects to revolutionize killing/controlling on their 'governments' behalf, which is just another group of people acting as the catalyst essentially.

it was inevitable I think.
the people who are actually taking the initiative to do these things are motivated beyond our capacity to comprehend, let alone contain. they've seen, heard and done all the same things we have and more.

they are trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else in everything. sleight of hand

Maybe we need our own poor mans drones?



or

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Sharp-eyed dog walkers along the San Francisco Bay waterfront might have spotted a strange-looking plane zipping overhead recently that looked strikingly like the U.S. stealth drone captured by Iran in December. A few key differences: The flying wing seen over Berkeley is a fraction of the size of the CIA's waylaid aircraft. And it's made of plastic foam. But in some ways, it's just like a real spy plane.

www.columbiatribune.com...

New details are emerging about the arrest federal authorities made of a 26-year-old Massachusetts man whom they claim plotted to pack remote controlled planes with C-4 explosives and mount simultaneous terrorist attacks against the Pentagon and Capitol building

www.theblaze.com...

We even have DIY drone dot com LOL diydrones.com...



I am telling you folks American ingenuity will fight fire with fire if it ever comes down to it

reply to post by Phage


True, these are all standard air frame designs that have been around awhile. But you know as well as anyone what is in development is years ahead of what is being released to the public.
We've seen the dragonfly and hummingbird model drones that look and move surprisingly like their natural counterparts. Nanotech is growing at leaps and bounds. How small are they going to go? Down the size of flies would be my best guess
What's stopping them from weaponizing tiny drones with bio-weapons that inject a toxin? I believe they already have such in their possession. I'm no industry insider, just someone who can follow patterns and draw logical conclusions, not much imagination required.
People might say this is all paranoid delusions worrying so much about drones but it seems to me the real paranoia belongs to those requesting these kinds of systems being developed.
Those in control of our intelligence agencies have no scruples and even less regard for the law. If we don't watch them and try our best to imagine their game plan nobody else will.
Drones represent the loss of privacy and a Zuess-like ability to strike down anyone they choose with thunderbolts. If that isn't enough to rouse us from our complacency I don't think anything will.

sandf ATA

When they come to take the guns
I keep screaming: How will the guns stop these things?
thats why they let everybody have then so far..they don't care that they are there...

All I keep getting in response is "we will shoot them down with our vermint rifles like they do at Pakistani weddings"

My man Deganawidah prophesied strange bugs would come out of the ground and bite everybody back in the 12th century..( along with red shields and the white house and the downfall of the USof A....

These freakin things are gonna be crashin all over the place and how about all the "GREEN HOUSE" freakin gases these stupid things emitt? Whatahyagonnadoo? If the govments up to it, you know that it's no freakin good for you an me. Now I got freakin ahjina just thinkin about it.

reply to post by woogleuk


Heck with foreign soil, I hope one doesn't hit my house. The pilot of a military jet would apologize for the mess he caused after he had to eject, it's hard to get an apology from a drone.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
reply to post by Phage

 

We've seen the dragonfly and hummingbird model drones that look and move surprisingly like their natural counterparts. Nanotech is growing at leaps and bounds. How small are they going to go? Down the size of flies would be my best guess. What's stopping them from weaponizing tiny drones with bio-weapons that inject a toxin? I believe they already have such in their possession. I'm no industry insider, just someone who can follow patterns and draw logical conclusions, not much imagination required.

edit on 11-6-2012 by Asktheanimals because: corrections

Well they can certainly use the dragonfly and hummingbird models to sorta drop the micro-dust or elements that can seap into the individual being tracked. Below link talks about DNA embedded Genetic Surveillance Which means it can track who your kids and grandkids are/will be

Genetic Surveillance

Possible Tiny Drones

Drone_Pics

With the existing 'taggant' technologies, certainly the insects would be the most viable for now

Taggants

Housefly_Drone

Micro_Drones